BE,S 1: Blue Eyes, Shining
by cpneb
Summary: What happens when you take the young man out of his room and turn him loose on a ranch in Montana for a summer, especially when he thinks he's in love with a redhead? JossWade, with liberal doses of Kim, Ron, Betty, and Slim.
1. Chapter 1: Relationship advice from Ron?

Blue Eyes, Shining

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

This is the start of the prequel for Black Hole Deep, version 2.0. Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Chapter 1: Relationship advice from Ron?

(From the archives and logs of Dr. Wade Load.)

I'm either in love or in extreme lust; I'm just not sure which.

I think it's love.

I think I've met the mother of my children.

It'll be awhile before it happens, but a guy can dream, can't he?

Give me a break, I'll be 13 in 2 months! Do you know what it's like to have these hormones flowing through your body and Kim Possible always there, needing your assistance?

I knew it the first time I saw her.

I need to talk to Ron, away from Kim.

I'm asking Ron for advice: this may be the ultimate "sick and wrong."

I ping'ed Ron's Ronnicator.

Ron's head came into view.

"Hey, Wade, what's the Sitch?" Ron laughed. "Sorry, I always wanted to say that. You want Kim?"

"No, Ron, is she around?"

"No, she's still in the restaurant with her brothers and dad."

"Good. Ron, I need to talk to you, man to man."

"Man to man? Oh, man…"

"Ron, I think…"

"What?"

"How did you know Kim was the one?" I blurted out the question.

"Well, it started in Pre-K, and –"

"Ron! Head in the game, please." I was getting stressed. She's on my mind constantly, and I can't think straight. She's more distracting than quantum physics.

"Sorry, Wade."

"When did you know?"

"I think I've always known, but I think it was the eyes."

Oh no. I'm in real trouble.

"Yea, definitely the eyes," Ron continued. "The first time that I really looked into those tear-filled gorgeous green eyes after she broke up with Monkey, I knew. I've wanted to tell her for a long time. Maybe I'll have a chance to tell her at Jr. Prom.

"Oh, no," I thought.

"Oh, no, what? Wade, what's this got to do with anything? You're not taking an advanced psychology class, are you?"

"No, it's just…," and I'm glad I stopped because I could hear Kim coming up to Ron in the background.

"Ron, call me when you get home, ok? This is really serious.

"Oh, and Ron? Don't tell Kim about this, ok?"

"Sure thing, Wade. Talk to you later."

"Wade, what's the Sitch?" Kim's head came into view.

"Nothing, Kim, I'm just checking the backup circuits to the satellite transmission site, and I patched into the Ronnicator." I CAN"T BELEIVE I LIED TO KIM!

"Oh. Ok, Wade." AND SHE DOESN'T KNOW! I got away with it, again. Smooth, Wade.

"Have a safe trip home, Kim."

"See you later, Wade," and she punched the off button.

WHAM!

Why?

WHAM!

Why?

WHAM!

Why?

WHAM!

Why?

Banging my head on my desk helped. I learned that when I was trying to teach Algebra to Ron.

I pulled up the backup transmissions from the Crooked D, and there she was.

Oh, yea, I'm in real trouble. Either Mr. Dr. Possible or his brother will send me into space, or I'll have to be very careful about what I do. This is going to require serious planning.

WHAM!

Why?

WHAM!

Why?

WHAM!

Why?

WHAM!

Why did I have to fall for a Possible daughter?

Oh, I thought Kim was pretty for an older woman, and I had seen a lot more of her than Ron had, but she wasn't what I was looking for. Besides, I was so much younger then. I wonder if she ever wondered how I was able to make her supersuit fit perfectly. I grinned: if she knew, Mrs. Dr. Possible would get to me before her dad did, and I'd have to go for boy's soprano roles on a permanent basis. Gee, I guess that would make me Falsetto Load, but it didn't sound as funny when I pictured an angry Mrs. Dr. Possible coming after me with a matching set of kitchen knives like I was Thanksgiving dinner. Even worse, with Kim coming right behind her to teach me 16 styles of Kung-Fu.

Anyway, Ron was so smitten with Kim, and I would never do anything to hurt either Ron or Kim. How many other people would risk their lives over and over with a kid's basement work?

Now, Dr. Director was hot!

WHAM!

No!

WHAM!

No!

WHAM!

No!

WHAM!

No!

Betty has always been nice to me, but that time that she hugged me I thought I never wanted to go home. So soft, so comfortable, and she smelled so good….

WHAM!

No!

WHAM!

No!

WHAM!

No!

WHAM!

No!

Got to keep my head clear.

I was going to have to make some major lifestyle changes if I wanted to even have a ghost of a chance with her.

I would have to start Operation Blue Eyes, and this was more important than my first PhD:

I had fallen, hard, for Jocelyn Possible.

Maybe Ron could help.

I was asking Ronald Dean Stoppable for advice about women.

Boy, was I desperate, or what!

- - -

chapter now complete….

- - -

A/N: Wade's got it **bad**, and he's asking Ron for relationship advice? This won't be pretty. Please read and review.


	2. Chapter 2: Help from the 2 R’s

Blue Eyes, Shining

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

There is an updated Chapter 1 posted with some minor corrections and a correction to Wade's age to just under 13 when this story starts.

Responding to my reviewers:

AtomicFire:Wade agrees whole-heartedly (about Joss) and cannot reveal all of the secrets of Battlesuit fittings since Mrs. Dr. P still has all the sharpened cutlery. He has only one word for Betty: yowsa!

Zaratan and AtomicFire: Furniture Protectors has already emailed both Wade and I to offer counseling.

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Chapter 2: Help from the 2 R's

(From the archives and logs of Dr. Wade Load.)

Kim called me after she, Ron, her dad, and her brothers returned home. She told me the things that I hadn't heard about: Joss' fixation on /worship of her, her belief that I was more important than Ron, and current ultimate fixation on Ron. We laughed, and I hope that I wasn't too obvious when she mentioned that Joss was impressed with me and my 'gadgets.' After she dropped the Kimmunicator connection, I yelled so loud that Mom came asked me what was wrong. I told her that I was just happy about something I'd found on the Internet.

SHE NOTICED ME!

I didn't sleep that night.

- - - - - - -

I didn't talk to Ron one-on-one until after he had gone thru the "Moodulator" incident. I had seen Kim in the LBD; I'm surprised that Mr. Dr. P hadn't launched them in separate probes, right then. Poor Ron was in worse shape after that than I was about Joss, and I hadn't seen her in person.

He called me a few days later.

"Hello, Ron. Has your blood pressure dropped yet?"

"Funny, Wade. I was afraid that Mr. Dr. P was going to launch me just for being there to pick up Kim the other night."

"Yea, Ron, I was afraid that you were going to have a heart attack."

"I did, but not that way."

"?"

"After the chip came off, we went out and saw fireworks."

"Oh. OH!"

"Not that way, Wade. The kiss was better without the chip," and Ron glazed over with a huge smile on his face. He was in as much trouble as I. Ah, Possible women….

"Ron, how do you feel about Kim?"

"Wade, she's my best friend: always has been, and always will be."

"That's not what I mean, Ron."

"Wade, isn't that a 'TMI' request?"

"I'm serious, Ron."

"Wade," Ron hesitated, and he started to blush, "I think I'm in love with her. No, Wade, that's incorrect. I **know** I'm in love with her."

"So, why don't you tell her?"

"I don't want to ruin our friendship. I don't want to break up Team Possible."

"Ron, trust me, you won't."

"Wade, have you been hacking her on-line diary again?" Ron sounded hopeful and worried at the same time.

"She keeps her diary off-line now," I dodged.

"So, you hacked it before," Ron gave me that 'you're busted' look.

'Well….that's not important. Remember when I called you on the way home from vacation?"

"Yea, Wade. I'm sorry I didn't call you back. Mom had me clean my room again, and she sent me out to get rid of the garden gnome in the garage. I was able to use my monkey mojo to capture it, and it got bagged and trashed finally."

"Did you know that Joss was now infatuated with you? The whole sidekick thing and your willingness to do things when you're frightened: she told Kim that's the sign of a true hero."

"Kim told me on the way back, and I got some emails from her, but she's nowhere as hooked on me as she was on Kim. That was a big relief, especially after she started sending me weekly emails and IM'ing me every night for 2 straight weeks."

'What I wouldn't give for that attention from her', I thought.

"That reminds me, Wade. In her email last week, she did ask me for your direct email. She had a question about Kim's hair-dryer grappler; it seems that she wants to upgrade her rope gun."

"Do you mind if I send it to her, Wade?"

'YES!'

"Not at all, Ron," **'is Rufus hairless? Of course I don't mind, you idiot! Give her anything she wants!' **I thought, "I don't mind at all, if Kim isn't worried about Joss getting into any trouble. I wouldn't want to cause any problems or get her into any trouble." I wasn't going to show Ron any feelings that I had for her; well, not yet, at least.

"Nah, it's ok with Kim."

"So, have you thought about taking Kim to the prom?"

Ron's face fell.

"Not Mankey again?" I asked.

"No, this time there's this new guy named Eric. She's gone all gaga over him, and I don't stand a chance."

"Ron, you're selling yourself way short. You've got to decide if you think Kim's worth it. You know she is, so you've gotta go for it."

"Since when did you get so knowledgeable in the 'affairs of the heart', Wademeister?" Ron laughed.

"Ron? Clue? I'm working on my second PhD. I'm in classes with women older than Kim all of the time, and I hear all of the boyfriend and husband stories.

"Trust me, this is not a risk. 'Risk' would be you going after the 'Queen B'," that got a laugh out of him.

"Wade, my man, maybe you should date BonBon."

"Trust me: she's not my type. She's hot and all, but if I had to deal with that much attitude, I'd kill myself," I laughed.

"So, what **is** your type, Wadester?"

"Oh, gorgeous red hair, fiery ice-blue eyes-" did I just say that out loud? I DID NOT JUST SAY THAT!

"Redheads, huh? Well, we've got something in common, Wade, but mine's got green eyes." Ron's not as stupid as people think. He suddenly had a huge grin cross his face, and even Rufus jumped up on his shoulder and gave me a thumbs-up.

"You've got the hots for Joss, don't you, Wade?" and Ron figured it out because I was thinking too much. "Oh, man, she's cute, Wade, but she's a definite handful, almost as much as Kim. You should know better than anyone: Possible women will drive you crazy."

"Don't I know it," I mumbled, but Ron heard it and laughed.

I DID IT AGAIN!

I stopped breathing.

"Wade, you secret is safe with me," Ron said seriously. "I swear on a platter of Nacos with extra cheese, grande-sized," and Rufus held up his right paw and said, "I swear cheese!"

I finally was able to breathe.

"Thanks, guys."

Ron woke up again. "That's what you wanted to talk to me about when we left the Crooked D, wasn't it?"

"Maybe you should be here running analysis, Ron," I suggested seriously.

"Hey, she did have a little bit of a gleam in her eye when she mentioned your name."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously.

"Dude, you might have a shot. You'd definitely make my life easier by getting her off my shoulders."

'Head in the game, and mind out of the gutter, Wade.'

"If she's trying to emulate Kim-"

"Emulate, hmmm, that's a school word," Ron contemplated and wrinkled his brow, and then he had a Naco moment. "She wants to be like Kim!"

"Exactly, Oh Great and Powerful Ron," and I laughed with Ron. "She wants a better grappler? I can work with her to incorporate the newest items from Kim's version 3.0 model."

"Just watch yourself, Wade. She's a bit older than you, so she may not be as interested in you as you'd like."

"Older is not a problem, Ron. I'm around older women all the time."

"Yea, I forget."

Going all in.

"Ron, I think I'm in love with Joss."

"Whoa there, pardner," Ron was now channeling Slim Possible. "Isn't this a bit soon to be thinking about love?"

"Ron, I've been thinking about it since I was 9 and working on my first PhD. My first lab partner had a figure that made Monique look like a piece of plywood."

"Monique…" Ron glazed over for a moment, and then shook himself. "BAD RON! BAD RON!" he said, and we both laughed.

"Talk about WAY too much woman for me," I said.

"Man, I think she's too much woman for almost every guy at Middleton High, Wade. Well, almost."

"Almost?"

"Yea, well I think that wild man Felix is sorely smitten with Mon's disease, and he looks incurable."

"How can you tell?"

"The drool when she walks by is a dead giveaway, Wade. Did you recover everything from the Team Impossible hack?"

"Ron, those guys made me madder than I've ever been."

"I kinda figured that when you showed up in person, Wade. The laser grid got their attention, I think," and we both laughed at the mental image. "So, are you coming on any more missions?"

"We'll see what Kim thinks. Ron, thanks for helping me, you know, with-"

"With what, Wade?" Ron smiled, then added, "I'll send her your private email, Wade."

"You da man, Ron," and I signed off.

SHE WANTS TO CONTACT ME!

I was happier than I was when I got my acceptance to my first PhD program.

I pulled up the backup files that the Kimmunicator captured from Kim's vacation (if Kim knew everything that the Kimmunicator did, she'd pull me up 2 feet taller and show me the 17th style of kung fu she was working on!) and wondered what Josh would look like at 18.

If it was anything like Kim, I was in real trouble.

I either need to hit the treadmill and burn off some of this tension or take another cold shower. I'm tired of freezing, so I guess it's the treadmill. Water instead of the Slurpster helps burn off the tension….

I've got to stop dreaming about her (like that's going to happen).

- - -

chapter now complete….

- - -

A/N: Rufus approves, so everything must be all right, right? He's got his advice from Ron, so everything will be ok, correct?

Only in his dreams….

Stay tuned for Redheads and Tornados. Please read and review.


	3. Chapter 3: Redheads and Tornados

Blue Eyes, Shining

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

To my reviewers:

Whitem and DuffKilliganFan: I'm glad you like it and enjoy the different view of the world.

AtomicFire: In case you haven't been on campuses lately, the PhD candidates are neither dressed in sackcloth and ashes nor do they look like your mother (unless your mother looks like Mrs. Dr. P or Betty!). Ahh, the times, they are a'changin…

Zaratan: (Wade) "I'm **not** shy! I'm just reserved and cautious." (turns to cpneb) "Was that ok?" "No prob, Wade."

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Chapter 3: Redheads and Tornados

(From the archives and logs of Dr. Wade Load.)

"Wade, what in the world are you listing to?" I was laughing when Kim ping'ed me, and I hadn't stopped yet when her face came into view.

"Tom Lehrer, Kim. His stuff is hilarious: 'Lobachevsky' is my favorite, but I also love 'Fight Fiercely, Harvard.' I'll rip a few of my favorites and send them to your email at home."

"Don't bother, Wade. Dad: Rocket Scientist, remember? I grew up on 'The Masochism Tango' and 'Werner Von Braun.' I thought Ron was gonna wet his pants the first time he heard 'Be Prepared,' but he blushed real bad at the end," Kim laughed as she remembered her dad's reaction to Ron's reaction: he almost fell off the top of the stairs watching Ron in her room as they listened to that song. "I was just calling to thank you for your help on the "Poquitos Diablos," she giggled as she intentionally butchered the Spanish.

"'No big, Kim,' and she laughed again as I tossed her response back at her. "I'm just glad I didn't have to clean up the mess everywhere; cleaning my house was bad enough with only the one."

"Tell me about it, Wade. We just barely had the final repairs on the roof completed before the big thunderstorm hit last week, and the kitchen still has the burned plastics and electronics smell," Kim remembered back to the Jr. prom night.

"Did it smell better than your cooking, Kim?"

"WADE!" and she gave me the 'I am not amused' look that she usually reserved for Shego.

"Sorry, Kim, but I couldn't resist," and she laughed as I smiled.

"Dad said it reminded him of his college dorm smell, since Drew was always 'cooking something up.'"

"Anyway, I called to tell you that I just talked to Uncle Slim. I called him after I got an email from Joss. Uncle Slim says it's ok to work with Joss on her rope gun."

"Thanks, Kim. Is she trying to become "Montana Kim?"

"No; she just wants to help, and Uncle Slim has enough background info from Dad to know that it's better to help her than send her off without backing her. I'm glad, too: she's a good kid, and she still misses her mom so much. Uncle Slim hopes that she can use the rope gun to keep the boys off of her; gee, I wonder where he got that idea?" Kim just rolled her eyes.

"At least he doesn't have a space probe handy, Kim."

"No missions?"

"Nothing active, Kim. It looks like all of your 'friends' went underground after Drakken's plan with the Diablos bombed."

"That would be nice, to actually have a summer off," Kim thought what she wanted to do this summer, and I read her smile.

"Planning some lake time with Ron, are we? Perhaps, collecting some rays of 'Ron-shine'?"

"As long as Dad doesn't see the two-piece that I bought."

"Kim, you stop traffic in a tote sack, so what's he worried about?" Hey, I wasn't so dead that I hadn't noticed that Kim was almost as pretty as Joss. Of, course, that wasn't Ron's opinion.

"Wade! I just wish I could see you blush after a comment like that," Kim teased. "Just wait until you get a girlfriend: Ron and I are going to go medieval and unmerciful on you."

"Kim, I'm 13, not 30. Give me a break, I'm not so old that I don't see the drool coming off of Ron. Besides, you can't miss it: Niagara Falls delivered less water than those guys drooled when you and Ron walked into the Prom."

"Thanks, Wade...I think."

"At least Ron's not as bad as Felix 'drool-boy' Renton: Monique has a shadow following her in a wheelchair, and I wonder why he is always offering her a seat."

"Well," Kim decided to quickly change the subject: she didn't want to discuss **that** subject with me. "Joss said that Ron had sent your email address to her, and she was going to email you pretty soon."

"Thanks, Kim. I just hope the summer is quiet."

"So do we, Wade, so do we. Thanks," and she got the 'I'm dreaming of Ron' look as she disconnected.

I changed the track from Lehrer to my random mixer, designed to select by composer and/or name of work or song: Leonard Bernstein's 'Mass', Bonnie Tyler, Willie Nelson, KISS, David Hasselhoff (no comments, please: you just wish you had his money from his tracks in Germany!), J. C. Arriaga, George Winston, and Johann Sebastian Bach. It would pull random selections from the Internet and give me some background music while I was writing. I had had writer's block on my current dissertation for the last 2-3 days, but I was back on track now.

- - - - - - -

I was 20 more pages into it before the computer's selections slammed me up against the wall. How my computer knew to pull that specific Willie Nelson song right after Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse', I'll never know. Work was off the table now, as my mind was wiped from fractal theory application in space-time movement and went into thinking about how to approach starting a relationship with Joss. This, unfortunately, went past dinner and up until 10:30 when I got Joss' email. Her email asked for my instant, so I sent her the secure connection message id. This email also simultaneously solved and created my problem on how to start the relationship.

- - - - - - -

"What's the sitch, Wade?"

"Sorry to bother you, Kim, but I'm a bit of a quandary."

"About what?"

"I got Joss' email last night."

"Great."

"That's the problem, Kim."

"Now, I'm confused."

"Joss wants to know if I can come up to Montana to work with her on upgrading her equipment."

"WHAT?"

"Now, you see my quandary."

"I don't think that's what Uncle Slim had in mind."

"Exactly," I said, but thought 'but sounds like a great idea to me! Mountains, moonlit nights…'crossed my mind. BAD WADE! BAD WADE!

"I'll talk to Dad when I get home. Maybe Uncle Slim has already called him," Kim said.

'That'd be great, Kim."

"No big. I'll let you know," and she dropped.

- - - - - - -

I could tell what Joss had in mind for the summer by her request. The equipment and the specifications that she sent were very basic, but I could tell that she was assembling equipment for a search and rescue practice of 2-3 people. I went bask to last summer's Kimmunicator files for analysis on Mr. Dr. Slim Possible's equipment (can't call him Mr. Dr. Slim Possible all the time, and can't call him Mr. Dr. P; maybe, Mr. Dr. S? Work on that, Wade); I especially wanted to see technical specs on Tornado, the horse that he built. He has some information on his web site, and his back room had a better-than-commercial firewall (what a surprise), making him safe from basic and intermediate hackers, so I decided to wait and get information from Kim before I broke in: I might even get permission and not have to hack. I expected that, when I get in, Slim would know who got in: not many people could do what I do.

In the meantime, I checked GJ's files for any information that they had on Tornado. Nothing: what a surprise. They had Will Du as one of their top agents, for gosh sake: what did you expect?

I updated her information with the specs that I would use to make the equipment usable in all conditions and environments, much more than normal rescue would need (but, you never know: there's too many nuclear sites up there, and far too many groups with political leanings towards anarchy; some people thought that there might be some terrorist camps up there), but I held onto the specs pending the response from Mr. Dr. P. and Mr. Dr. S.

This kept me busy part of the afternoon. I put 1.5 miles more on the treadmill and finished another 10 pages on my dissertation in the meantime.

- - - - - - -

I sent Joss an email telling her that I had asked Kim to check with Mr. Drs. S and P and to make sure that I didn't get her into any trouble (keep her happy, I must: too much Yoda, I had been watching recently). Joss sent back a nice email thanking me for doing that; she said that she would have had to "blister my behind" if I had not told her ahead of time that I had talked to Kim. I so wanted to send her a response email, but I wrote it and deleted it; I didn't know that well…yet.

I sent an email asking if I could get the technical specs for Tornado and told her that I had some ideas for her equipment list that I wanted to share with her before we got together, if everything worked out; I also told her that I couldn't leave Kim and Ron high and dry this summer and wanted to know if I could set up some equipment for a remote control center for Team Possible. She sent back a response that she was looking forward to my ideas for equipment and liked the idea of a remote site for Team Possible control center. If I would let her know what was needed, she'd check with her dad and see if they could set it up without me needing to bring any equipment to Montana. This could be the start of her control center, she suggested, or even a backup that could be used if I wanted to take some time off. I liked the way this lady thought (among other things….)

WHAM!

No!

WHAM!

No!

WHAM!

No!

WHAM!

No!

I can't help it: she drives me to distraction more than anyone else I've ever known, and I have yet to meet her in person!

This is not good: what condition would I be in when I actually met her?

- - - - - - -

"Wade, I just talked to Dad. Uncle Slim gave the go, so just let him know what date you're coming and how long you think it'll take, and he and Joss will pick you up at the airport."

"Airport? I don' need no stinkin' airport, Keem."

"Bad imitation, Wade."

"Sorry, I guess I picked a bad time to start doing imitations."

"WADE!" Kim was getting them, now. "What's gotten into you, lately? Music, bad puns, movie quotes…are you feeling all right?"

"Kim, I'm fine. This second dissertation has tried to corner me like the Wraithmaster in Everlot, but I've won all the battles so far. I forgot: you didn't see as much of me during the first dissertation; I get this way when I haven't had much sleep, and the music and other things help me focus by taking my mind down when I'm deep into writing." 'Good line, Wade; some of it's actually true, but you know the real reason you're like this. Maybe she'll believe it.'

"Oh. OK, I'm just glad to hear that it's coming along well."

'HE SHOOTS and SCORES a THREE-POINTER AT THE BUZZER! She bought it: hook, line, and sinker.'

"I was concerned, Wade," Kim continued, my face showing none of what I was thinking. "You need a real vacation, away from the Kimminicators and getting Ron and me rides and such."

"Kim, no problem. Remember the hologram projectors in my room?"

"No, Wade, I meant outside of your room for a while. Maybe this trip will help you with some time away. Montana's not frozen this time of the year, and you've never been to a working ranch. Who knows: you might enjoy yourself."

'I have every plan to….' At least this time I didn't open my mouth.

"I think you'll like Joss, Wade."

'D'OH!' Quiet, again…..

"Just watch out, though, she's a real pistol at times, and she's definitely a handful."

'Watching I will do, most definitely.' Pushing my luck; I'd better say something.

"You may be right, Kim. But you'll not have to worry about the communications: Mr. Dr. S is setting up a backup center for me at the Ranch so that I can stay connected."

"'Mr. Dr. S?' Oh, Uncle Slim. Wade, you've been hanging around Ron too long."

"I've already talked to my parents; they think that the Ranch is an excellent idea, and like the fact that I'm getting out of my room. Mom mumbled something about fumigation, repainting the walls, and new floors."

"Great. Just let Ron and I know when you leave."

"Are your parents going to take you?"

"Nah. I'm bumming a ride with GJ on one of their jets. I told Dr. Director (Oh, Betty…. BAD WADE! BAD WADE!) about the work with Joss in Montana and the backup center idea, and she liked the idea so much that she offered some additional support equipment and transportation. Besides, she said that she was sending a team up to Canada for training west of Alberta in the Rockies, so they could drop me off on the way."

"Canada, eh?"

"Now who's doing bad impressions, Kim? Thinking about Joe again?"

"Sorry….GJ's ride sounds way cool, Wade. Maybe Ron and I can drive up later in the summer and meet you up there?"

"That'd work, Kim." 'Like Mr. Dr. P would let you and Ron anywhere near a motel room alone after the Prom! IN YOUR DREAMS!'

"Dad thought that it might be a good idea; he said he might even try to get away from the Space Center and bring Mom and the Tweebs."

'DEAR GOD in HEAVEN, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS? MR./MRS. Drs P, RON, and the TWEEBS? FORGIVE ME, OH GOD for I MUST HAVE SINNED!'

"Great idea, Kim, but what happens to your Ron-shine time?"

"Out the window if the posse comes," Kim was frowning now, so maybe she didn't like the idea as much now, "I'm working on Mom and Dad to send the Tweebs to visit Nana. She can hop them up on lemon squares, or maybe lose them in the Everglades," and she let go with an imitation Shego look. "Hey, it's a thought." She smiled, but this time the same smile she used when she was thinking about Bonnie Rockwaller. Jim and Tim must have done something **really** bad this time to deserve the 'Bonnie' look.

"I'm leaving tomorrow, Kim. I'll have a Kimmunicator that you can reach me on while I'm off-site and before we bring the backup center on-line. I'll let you know when GJ's on their way."

"Thanks, Wade, again, for your work on the Diablos. If it wasn't for them, Ron and I would not be together now."

"Does that mean that you're sending Dr. D an invite to the wedding, Kim?"

"WADE! We're nowhere near that stage," and then she got that dreamy look. "White gown, long train," she whispered, and then she shook her head a couple of times as if she was trying to shake the thoughts out of it. Then, she started to turn red.

"Anyway, I'll talk to you later, Wade," and she disconnected.

I had to laugh out loud on that one. I had 2 months after college graduation in the Kim/Ron wedding pool at GJ.

So, let's see if Mr. Dr. S has the connection up so I can transfer the software to the backup site and begin the boot sequences for the satellite links….

- - - - - - -

I head the GJ jet landed in the street in front of my house. I hugged Dad and kissed Mom goodbye (inside, of course: I had an image to maintain!) and ran out with my backpack and suitcase as the jet canopy popped open and Dr. Director jumped out. She was in her personal jet. I loved a woman in uniform, especially blue….

"Wade. Good morning. Are you ready?" she asked in her clipped tones.

"Yes, Dr. Director. I have everything I need here," and I patted the suitcase and pointed to my backpack. "I'm ready to go," and my heart was pounding, not for Betty this time but for Joss.

"Good; the other jet is already en route with the equipment and the trainees. Let's go," and she grabbed my suitcase and tossed it behind the co-pilot's seat as I scrambled up into the jet and strapped myself in.

Betty seemed to jump into the jet and fire up the engines as the canopy closed. We lifted about 500 feet straight up, and she slammed the throttle. We were off.

About 10 minutes into the flight, I was in deep trouble.

"Wade, I wanted to tell you that I was impressed by your first dissertation. I've seen most that were not as well-written as yours, and I understand from your department head that your defense was exceptional."

"Thank you, Dr. Director. I'm flattered that you took the time to read it; that's more than some of the committee members did," I added the last remark because 3 of my committee asked questions that were obviously answered in the dissertation.

"You're quite welcome. I hope that you're taking that consultancy offer with us seriously. You could continue to work with Kim and Ron, of course."

Silence, and then it hit. The conversation was the calm before the storm.

"Wade?"

"Yes, Dr. Director?"

"I've been pondering something for a few months. How **did** you get my measurements for my battlesuit? It fit so well, almost as if it were tailored exactly to me by a custom tailor who had taken my measurements. I have the same question regarding Kim's suit, of course." she said calmly.

GULP!

'This is going to be a very long short ride,' I thought. 'I just hoped that she won't hit the eject controls.'

- - - - - - -

Betty brought her jet in at the Possible ranch. As we landed, I saw Mr. Dr. S standing next to Tornado, and Joss was sitting on Tornado, red hair streaming as the wind pushed it back There were ranch hands and GJ team members unloading the other jet. I was trying to be casual and look at Joss.

She was glorious.

She was everything that I dreamed, and more.

"Should I tell Joss how our battlesuits were fitted, Wade?" Betty had figured out why I was coming up here, and she was doing everything to make me squirm.

She laughed as she cut the engines. "Don't worry, Wade, I won't tell her about the battlesuits or how you feel about her. I'm glad you're taking a chance for her," and she popped the canopy and jumped out.

"Dr. Possible. Jocelyn. Good afternoon."

"So formal, Betty?" and Mr. Dr. S stepped forward and hugged Dr. Director. ? "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"The Oxford conference, 1991," she said, and she was smiling. ?

I need to do more research…later, I thought as I hit the ground and turned to be almost nose-to-nose with Joss.

"Hey there, Wade," she said. "I'm shore glad you could come up here and help me out." There was a twinkle in her eye, and an honest smile when she shook my hand.

"The pleasure's all mine, Joss. I'm glad I can help," I replied, and she smiled even bigger.

It was electric.

It was definite.

I loved her accent.

I was in serious trouble.

She was even more captivating in person.

- - - - - - -

A/N: OK, readers, I have some questions for you to ponder:

Is Wade going to have all of the Drs. P **and** Kim **and** Ron **and** the tweebs **and** Rufus to deal with while he's "working"?

What is Joss really thinking?

What happened to Joss' mom?

What about Mr. Dr. S? What is he going to think of this?

Betty and Slim know each other?

What did Betty do to Wade; she seemed to approves, so everything must be ok, right?

Is Ron still scared of Tornado? Are Kim and Ron going to have a **very** happy summer?

Wade knew that this wouldn't be easy, but just how hard is it going to be?

What's the name of the Willie Nelson song that pushed Wade over the edge? This one should be easy….FYI: Tom Lehrer is real as are the song titles. Listen at your own risk: you've been warned.

Stay tuned for chapter 4: 'In the Twilight'. Thanks for reading, and please review.


	4. Chapter 4: In the Twilight

Blue Eyes, Shining

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

To my reviewers:

Zaratan: Wade is not just leaving his room for days; he's leaving it in the hands of his mother **and** he's leaving the state. It's definitely love. Of course, having a travel partner helps (Wade, stop grinning!).

Yankee Bard: Rondo advice seems to be working so far, but let's see what happens in person.

AtomicFire: Interesting thoughts on Joss' mom. Also, glad you liked the Wade/Betty banter: it gets better. As for the rest: in the words of the old Davy Crockett song: "Well, wait and see…."

CajunBear73: It's going to be a busy summer, with lots of surprises both happy and sad.

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Chapter 4: In the Twilight

(From the archives and logs of Dr. Wade Load.)

- - - - - - -

I hit the ground and turned to be almost nose-to-nose with Joss.

"Hey there, Wade," she said. "I'm shore glad you could come up here and help me out." There was a twinkle in her eye, and an honest smile when she shook my hand.

"The pleasure's all mine, Joss. I'm glad I can help," I replied, and she smiled even bigger. "I need to check on the equipment unloading," I said as I squeezed her hand and released it, then turned to make sure that all of the equipment was unloaded as the ranch hands carted it off to what looked like a relatively new building on the ranch (the huge WET PAINT and WET CEMENT signs were a dead giveaway). I was also watching Mr. Dr. S. and Betty, trying to catch a hint of what was going on there.

Joss took my hand, squeezed it, and pulled me over to her dad.

"Dad, this is –"

"Dr. Wade Load, PhD from MIT, Summa Cum Laude, holder of the Stinson award for advances in artificial intelligence and cyber-robotics."

"Mr. Dr. Possible, -" and he cut me off.

"Dr. Load, please, call me Slim, or I'll be forced to call you Dr. Load all the time," he smiled and stuck his hand out.

"O…K…Mr. Dr…I mean, Slim," and I shook his hand. I glanced at Joss, and she had an even bigger smile on her face.

"Betty, you and your team have to stay for dinner. I've made a fresh batch of 5-alarm chili, and I even have some no-alarm for the greenhorns."

"I accept, Slim, if it's ok with Joss," and Betty walked over to Joss.

"Jocelyn, I'm Betty Director, head of Global Justice. I also had the distinct pleasure of having your mom as my best friend; we went to college and graduate school together. I was the maid of honor at her wedding to your dad," and Betty stuck out her hand. Joss took it, shook her hand, and then hugged her. I thought that both of them were going to cry.

"You knew my mom?" Joss quietly asked, so soft that I could barely hear her as she and Betty separated, and Betty nodded.

"Sheri Nicole Sensible was one of the best people I've ever known. Your mother was a saint, Joss: she had to be, to put up with your Dad," and Betty winked where only Joss and I could see her, and Joss laughed.

"Do you mind if my team and I have dinner here?" Betty asked Joss, and Joss was surprised that she was being asked.

"Not at all, Betty, I'd like to here some more about my mom," and Josh took my hand and squeezed it again. I could get used to this: her hand in mine. Betty turned and went back towards Slim, and Joss whispered to me, "We need to talk."

Betty kissed Slim on the cheek, and laughed as she watched him blush. "I need a place to change for dinner, Slim."

"We've got a bunkhouse available for your team to relax, and I have a guest room for you to use," Slim said. "Wade, Joss can show you to your room."

"Thank you, Slim."

"I'll show you where we've set up the command bunker," Joss said, and she pulled me towards the new building and away from her dad and Betty.

- - - - - - -

"Well, Wade, what did you think of the command bunker?"

"Well, Ron puts it best: BOOYAH!" and Joss clapped her hands.

"I was thinkin' 'SPANKIN!', but Booyah works, too," Joss laughed. We were walking back from my room where I'd stored my suitcase and backpack after unloading the laptop in the bunker.

"How deep **is** this bunker, Joss?"

"Well, the structure underneath the ground floor is five additional floors, all hardened, and there's all of the hardened site space below. The ranch includes an old Minuteman missile site," she explained. Now it made sense.

"Daddy has had plans to upgrade the property, and he had already completed most of the work three months ago, before I heard from you. He's expanding his work and moving it out of the house, and this bunker was perfect for it. What I wanted to do just added a little of work to what needed to be completed."

Joss suddenly changed tone. "OK, Wade, cough it up. Did **Kim** send you up here?" and Joss had pulled me to a stop and was giving me a classic "Kim" look. I laughed, and the look went from Kim back to Joss. "What? Why are you laughing?"

"Joss, if I could count the number of times that your cousin has given me that look," and she chuckled.

"Well, I guess some things are 'Possible' for 'Possible women,'" she said calmly, and then slapped her knee and laughed.

I responded. "No, Joss, Kim did not send me. I came because **you** asked me to," and she smiled **so big, "**and I thought I could help. When I got your request, I looked it over and was able to figure out what you were planning, and I've got some ideas beyond your rope grappler upgrade and the command bunker. I'd like to talk to you about them, maybe plan some actions out. I told Dr. Director, and she cleaned out the GJ surplus equipment storage and… well, that's why we have 2 jets instead of one."

"Now, that is spankin' of Dr. Director, Wade. And, it's so spankin' of you to want to come all the way up her for li'l ol' me," and her voice softened as she tortured me with her smile and accent.

'Oh, the pain….'

"Thank you, Wade; that was very thoughtful," she continued, and I shook my head in response to her statement.

"You shouldn't have to start the same way that Kim did: from scratch. Let's do it **right** from the beginning," and she smiled even bigger at the thought that she was topping Kim in something. "Blaze your own trail, Joss."

"OOH, I like that," she said, her voice filled with excitement. "Let's go get some of Daddy's chili. I hope you like it hot," she grinned.

"Hey: Diablo sauce here, no big," and we both laughed. Joss showed me where the dining hall was and left to change for dinner.

- - - - - - -

I had dropped 2 pants sizes over the last 10-12 weeks (what you'd do for love…), and I had changed to a Meezod golf shirt after I unpacked and a pair of Rockers pants. No six-pack, but the dunlap belly was disappearing, so I was happy. I was glad I had, because the GJ ladies and gentlemen were in their typical black-and-tan sports outfits (uniform, official, relaxed evening wear, sporty). Everyone was there, it seemed, except for Will and Betty, and they all had a drink in their hands. I went to the bar, said hello to Slim (holding a long-neck in one hand and popping peanuts in the other), and got a diet ginger ale for myself and a diet cola for Joss.

Joss came in, and some of the younger agents had the same response that I did: **_wow_**. She had she had pulled her hair back into a ponytail, she wore a western blouse that hinted at skin-tight, a blue-jean skirt that did not meet the definition of a miniskirt by millimeters, red cowgirl boots completed the outfit.

'Redheads in general, and Possible women in particular, are going to be the death of me,' I thought. Joss saw me, waved, and came over.

"Hey, Wade."

"Joss, you look beautiful." I didn't need an embarrassment ninja, I did it to myself. 'Mouth ahead of brain: not a good thing.'

"Well, aren't you jus' the sweetest thang," she giggled and grinned; she obviously enjoyed my compliment.

"I didn't know what you wanted to drink, so I got you a diet cola," I said, handing her the drink. 'Mouth is no longer in charge: mind is back in a semblance of control'.

"Why, thank you Wade. You're going to spoil me if you keep doing thangs like this," she smiled as she accepted the drink.

'I intend to do just that,' good, the mind was ahead of the mouth, and the mouth stayed shut for 15 more seconds until -.

"Oh, my," Joss said, and I turned to see a vision escorted by a moron.

Will (not the vision) was escorting Betty into the room. Betty was dressed to kill, and I don't mean with her Smith and Wesson's. She had on a red dress that fit better and was tighter than the battlesuit (which I did not think possible), and it was cut just enough above the knee. I'd always seen Betty in boots and jumpsuits at work, so I'd never seen her in heels (She should junk the jumpsuits with those legs, was my opinion, one that was shared by the male agents here based on the looks on their faces; judging from the hanging mouths in the room, the other agents had only seen her in jumpsuits, and certainly none of the ranch hands had seen this). Neither Kim nor Mrs. Dr. P had a chance.

Slim stood next to the bar, in his clean and pressed western shirt with a simple silver bolo and pressed jeans, and he looked way underdressed. Will Du escorted her over to Slim, and Slim offered her his arm. She took it, and kissed him chastely on the cheek: Slim was redder than the dress. Will looked like he had just been told he had a date with Shego, and he was buying.

"You like?" Betty purred, and the temperature in the room went up 30 degrees Celsius.

Slim's laugh could have been heard in Alberta, British Colombia, and Idaho. "Betty, shame on you! You want to give your agents heart attacks?"

"'Use all of your available assets for distraction' is one of the topics of the training session we're running in Alberta, Slim," and Betty suddenly had a .38 snub-nose revolver in her hand that no one had seen. Slim smiled.

"How'd you do that?"

"Professional secret, Slim," and the gun seemed to disappear.

"Now, if all of you have enjoyed the floor show, let's eat. Slim?" and Betty presented her arm to Slim, and he escorted her into the dining hall. Will Du followed: he's been one-upped by a Possible, again.

'Follow the leader,' and I offered my arm to Joss. She took it, and I escorted her into the dining hall. Joss was unsuccessful in hiding her blush that, by now, was almost the same shade of red as her dad's blush had started. Luckily, the blush did nothing to diminish her smile, especially when she noticed the looks that she was getting from those same younger agents. I happened to look at Betty as she sat: she caught my eye, and smiled. Slim saw me escorting Joss, but he didn't give me the Possible 'black hole space probe' look that Mr. Dr. P. always gave Ron; to the contrary, he almost looked relieved as he smiled at his daughter.

"I want a dress like Betty's," Joss mused as I pulled her chair out for her. 'Battlesuit for Joss, personal fitting session!' I thought. 'YES!'

BAD WADE!

BAD WADE!

BAD WADE!

I grinned as I sat.

"Why'ya grinning so big, Wade?" Joss asked.

"Just thought of something funny," I replied.

The chili was wonderful, and I ate enough to call for an extra run sometime soon. I didn't think that either Betty or Joss had room in their outfits for chili, but they both surprised me.

I couldn't hear the conversation that Betty and Slim had, but they were laughing and enjoying themselves completely. I could tell that Joss was bothered by the fact that Slim monopolized Betty's time and Joss never had a chance her one-on-one with Betty about her mom. I attempted, with a modicum of success, to keep Joss' mind off of her missed time with Betty by telling stories of a couple of missions that Ron led or where Ron completed them solo. The stories, and the discussions about the upgrades that I was planning, kept her occupied and her mind off of her Dad and Betty.

Several male agents had their decision to re-up confirmed with the 'red dress,' and the ones with questions had their minds made up. I didn't want to know what the female agents were thinking.

- - - - - - -

Betty, Will, and the remainder of the GJ agents changed back into their jumpsuits after dinner (a couple of agents complained that training after a dinner of Slim's chili was cruel and unusual punishment, but Will ignored them) for the remainder of the trip to Alberta. I went back to my room, retrieved my backpack, and returned.

Before she left, Betty cornered Joss and agreed to stop by when training was completed on her way back to Middleton and GJ HQ and spend time with Joss alone to talk about her mom; Joss liked the attention, and readily agreed. Betty then walked over to me.

"Well, Wade, it looks like we unloaded all of the equipment."

"Yes, Dr. Director. Please give my compliments to the team. They did an outstanding job, as usual."

"Betty, Wade; it's Betty. The PhD alone gives you the right, and what you're doing seals the deal."

"What I'm doing…?"

"Three things, Wade.

"One: I'm glad you enjoyed the dress as much as my agents and Slim did," and I almost swallowed my face as she smirked. "Be careful of how much you enjoy it while you're with Joss, though: at least, you spent more time watching her than me. I don't know if I should be upset, jealous, insulted or relieved: I'll settle for relieved, with just a pinch of jealous.

"Two: While I'm out of the apartment, I'm having upgrades installed on the jamming system. No more 'fitting sessions,'" and she smirked as she let me that she now knew how I obtained the Battlesuit measurements. "I'll also expect you to return the originals and copies of the files of Kim and me that you created; I'll dispose of Kim's files, and I'll store mine just in case I need a 'new fitting.' For those files, you and Joss get the equipment, and **I** don't tell Kim and Mr. Dr. P. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Three: I know what you're planning, but I didn't tell Slim, and I won't tell him, either. He'll figure it out by himself, and I don't think he'll object, as long as you never hurt Joss. You hurt her, and you'll learn why he named his horse 'Tornado.' Clear, Wade?'"

"'Crystal 5 by 5, Betty.'"

"I'm not finished, Wade. Now I know why you've been working out and losing weight. When you jumped into the jet in Middleton rather than climbing in, I knew what you were doing, and now, seeing you with Joss, I know why." Her voice suddenly shifted from conversational to 'Mr. Dr. P.' serious. "She is the daughter of my best friend, Wade; you ever hurt her or even **think** about hurting her, and I'll send Will Du to use you as a karate workout dummy, I'll find Shego and pay her to go 'old school' on you, and then I'll scoop up the remains and send the leftovers to James and Kim and Slim; I don't think there'll be enough, if anything, left to send to a black hole," and I saw a side of Dr. Director that reminded me that she was Sheldon's twin, and I was honest when I replied:

"That won't be necessary, Betty. I'm in it for the long haul."

"Good. You're a good man, Wade, and I didn't think I had to tell you this, but I made a promise to Sheri that I'd do it to her Joss' 'real thing,'" and Betty bent over and kissed my cheek. She caught me glancing. Oops.

"You like the girls, don't you?" She grinned. I knew what she was talking about.

"You're a remarkable and **evil** woman, Dr. Director."

"I know, and **not even** in your dreams, Doctor Load," and she sprinted to her jump jet, launched herself, landed in the cockpit of her jump jet, and fired up the engines all in what seemed a ballet move. "Contact me when you have the center operational," she shouted over the engines, and she dropped the canopy.

Joss came over just as Betty shouted the last sentence. She had seen Betty and me in what appeared to be a lively conversation.

"Is everything all right, Wade?" Joss shouted as the jump jet rose and then shot off into the twilight.

"Perfect, Joss." At least I was out of the doghouse with Betty, for a time.

"Did you give any more thought to the ideas that we discussed over dinner?" I asked, and we headed to the command bunker.

- - - - - - -

Twilight was almost replaced by night as we went into a different entrance, walking into a cavernous room piled high with boxes of supplies, servers, networking equipment, workstations, and lining the walls was furniture: desks, conference tables, partition walls, trashcans by the score, and even artwork. Joss gasped; I don't think that she had realized how much equipment had been unloaded.

"Is all of this…" and her voice trailed in shock.

"It's what you need, Joss; well, except for the artwork. Trust me: you're not starting a babysitting site," and I was mentally working on an update to the room design and trying to figure out how many people and how much time it would take to set up the server farm and firewalls and network.

She shocked me, throwing her arms around my neck and hugged me. I could get used to this position.

"OHMYGOD! Thank you, Wade. I don't know how you did it, but thank you, thank you, thank you," she had started on the gleeful train, and then she derailed and started to bawl uncontrollably. My hands were at my side (hey, trying to be good!), but I couldn't help it now, and I awkwardly raised my hands to hug her and gently pat her back.

I let her get whatever was in, out for a few minutes, and then I quietly asked: "Joss, what's wrong?"

"I" sob "can't believe" sob "that anyone would" sob "do all this" sob "for me" sob. Was there a moodulator chip somewhere on Joss? I wasn't going to check.

"You need to thank Betty when she comes back: she's the one that came up with the equipment, not me. I gave her a huge wish list, not expecting any more than five percent of it. It looks like she emptied the GJ warehouses," I replied.

"But you came," she started to show her exuberance, "and you contacted her, and I wouldn't have known that she knew Mom, and you came," and then she released me. "Thank you, Wade," she said in a softer voice than I'd ever heard from her, and she kissed my cheek, then realized what she'd done and took a step back and almost fell over her own feet. "I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'm so very sorry, Wade," and she was beet red.

"Joss, it's all right. You didn't do anything wrong. On the contrary, I'm the one who should be apologizing."

"Wha – Why should you apologize, Wade?"

I took a deep breath, and told her the truth.

"I've seen Kim grow and the missions become more complex and dangerous as the years went by, and I didn't have anywhere near the resources to give her everything that she and Ron needed to be safe. You've told me what you want to do, and I wanted to make sure that you didn't start with the same handicaps that Kim had after I started working with her. I made mistakes, and I've learned from them; luckily, no one has died because of my incompetence. You deserve the **best**, Joss, if you're going to risk your life and the lifes of others," and she stared at me in shock the entire time that I was talking.

I needed to get her mind off of what I had just confessed to her. "Let's check the server that your Dad set up and see what's up and working, Joss." I went into the room where I had left my laptop. A change of subject would, hopefully, let her forget what she'd done; I couldn't forget, I didn't want to forget, and I wouldn't forget..

There was a group of 4 desks in the center of the room, all 4 pushed together in a square facing each other and having a clear top that revealed the dlp-enabled plasma screens mounted underneath the desks. A server stood at the back of the room, and the communications equipment was rack-mounted next to the server rack. Everything looked like it was operational.

"This is the server that you connected to from Middleton," Joss pointed to the wall.

I went to the desk, sat down, and pulled out my laptop. I powered up, and checked for a network connection: local wireless network up and operational. I ping'ed the server and got a response. I logged on to the server and checked the directories that I had established: everything that I had done was still there.

I reached over my shoulder and pulled a box out of my backpack, popping it open. I removed the contents out of the box and hit a button on the unit. 2 cables snaked out and connected to my laptop. After about 90 seconds, the cables disconnected and retracted into the unit. I checked the unit, placed it back in the box, closed it, and turned around in the chair to face Joss, who was now standing behind me and watching what I was doing.

"Here you go, Joss," and I handed her the box.

"Is this what I think it is?" and she grinned as she opened the box and pulled out the unit.

"Your team's version of the Kimmunicator Mark 4, but with a 'few' upgrades," I said, smiling. "This one's yours, and I have a starter set that was shipped that I still need to configure. Besides, you can't run an outfit like this without one, I don't like email: too many viruses on the Internet. Power it up," I said, and Joss hit the power button. The stylized **_JP_** appeared on the screen.

"Spankin'," was all she could get out.

I reached into the backpack and pulled out another surprise in a box. I motioned, and she put the Kimmunicator down and caught the box that I tossed.

"What's in here?" she asked as she ripped the box open. Christmas morning in the bunker….

"Rope gun upgrade," I replied as she pulled out a small device. "The rope's been replaced with the latest synthetic; it's 30 times stronger and 30 times lighter than anything that you had, and it's the next generation of device that's being incorporated into the battlesuits. You clip it under your wrist," I smirked as she had already put it on and had already fired it at one of the exposed beams overhead; it fired almost soundlessly and attached as quietly, and Joss triggered the control that pulled her up to the ceiling. I was glad that she was wearing that skirt.

BAD WADE!

BAD WADE!

BAD WADE!

I grinned as she grabbed the beam.

"Spankin," she yelled from above.

"Are you coming down anytime soon?" I yelled up.

She came down quicker, and she popped the line release from the beam when she was 10 feet off the ground and jumped towards the wall, executing a pair of mid-air spins and landing expertly in a crouch, one hand touching the ground fingers pointing down and the other arm out counterbalancing.

"Whoa, now that was fun," she said to herself as she caught her breath and pulled in the line with the rewind control, and I stood and clapped. She finished pulling in the line, turned, and curtsied. I laughed.

"I'm impressed, Joss. And no cheerleading background," I commented.

"Gymnastics; mom had me in dance for awhile, too," she was bubbly, and then she almost shut down when she mentioned her mom. "That's been a long time ago," she was very quiet, and she picked up her Kimmunicator and appeared to want to be alone with her thoughts, but her thoughts were put on hold, and not by me.

- - - - - - -

'Where am I going to get the people to set this up,' I was thinking while Joss was thinking about leaving the bunker, and magically the door opened and Slim walked in. Joss put on a happy face; she seemed not to want her Dad to know if she was in anything other than a perfect mood.

"Ah'm not interruptin' you young folks, am I?"

"DADDY!"

'Good news,' I thought: 'Slim was definitely James Possible's brother.'

'Bad news,' I thought: 'Slim was definitely James Possible's brother; I needed to remember this last factoid.'

"Wade, I thought you could use a hand settin' this shindig up, so me and mah boys and girls are all yours startin' tomorrow at noon.."

"Thanks, Slim, but I'll need some strong technical people."

"How does a mess of double-E's, ME's CSE's, and MIS folks, with networking, hardware setup, and technical architecture and DBA backgrounds sound?"

"Sounds wonderful, but where?"

"Wade, you don't think I've got high school kids out here shoveling 'imaginary output' from behind Tornado and his friends do you?" Slim grinned.

"Oh. OH! How many?"

"Will 25 people do for starters?"

"wow." I had no idea how **big** this ranch really was, but I was getting an impression that this wasn't your ordinary working ranch very quickly.

"Thanks, Daddy," and Joss was giddy as she ran over and hugged her dad. "Betty's coming back, and we're going fishin', and she's gonna tell me stories about Mom! Is that cool, or what?" Joss was gushing and in a much better mood than just a few minutes ago.

"Perfect, Sweet Tea. I'm sorry I monopolized Betty today."

'Sweet Tea?' Hmm, I guess that's better than 'Kimmie-cub.'

"No, you're not, Daddy: I'm not stupid, and I saw the dress and your reaction. Just so you know: Betty's all mine this time, but she's fair game for you on the return trip. Daddy, can I have a red dress like that?"

'Quiet and shy and demure, Sweet Tea is.'

"You're mom told me that this day would come," Slim muttered under his breath, "and so did Squirt." He replied, "not for a couple of years, darling'," he replied, and I saw for the first time that the 'puppy dog pout' was genetic.

"AHHH, snake muffins. Why do I have to wait so long?" From age 13 to age 25 to age 13 in 3.5 seconds: not a record, but fast, nonetheless.

"Well, uh, ah," and Slim was caught in father-daughter purgatory.

"Why don't you ask Kim, Joss? She didn't get one until she as 16, I think, so it sounds like you're coming out ahead in the game," I offered, and Slim mouthed 'Thank You' to me when Joss agreed to call her favorite cousin.

"I'll send you the updated building plans, Wade, so you'll have the most current ones," Slim added. "All of these floors are raised, and fire suppressant is designed and already in place in the ceilings and floors."

"Now, **that's** spankin'" I replied, and Joss laughed.

"We'll git you to talkin' right purty soon, Wade. Or would you prefer the Queen's English, old sod? Perhaps a spot of tea with your chili," and Joss' accent was gone and replaced by a cockney sound I hadn't heard since my time in London. She and Slim laughed at my confusion.

"We lived in London when I was growing up before Daddy bought the ranch here," Joss explained.

London and Montana: neither was safe from a Possible assault. This was definitely turning out to be an interesting trip, even more than I had imagined.

"Daddy, look at what Wade gave me!" the giddy Joss was back, and she held out the Kimmunicator.

"That's a modified Mark 4, isn't it, Wade?" Slim was good.

"And this one has the latest GPS and the new reduced power-use quad chip set in it, as well, don't it?" Joss just kept blowing me out of the water. 'You'd better not underestimate her, Wade,' I thought.

"And it has Dr. Freeman's camouflage built in and as a personal projector," I had to get something in that they didn't know about.

"Spankin!" came from both father and daughter.

"Jinx! You owe me a soda."

"Oh, man, not another one," Joss grumbled, and she headed for the machine and my diet ginger ale.

- - - - - - -

"Good afternoon, Betty."

"Wade! What a surprise. How much longer will you be in Montana?"

"All summer, Betty. I was calling to let you know that we've installed all of the equipment that your team brought, we should be complete with the server installations and upgrades by the end of the day, the network and firewall are operational, the satellite connections are up, and the backup landline OC-3 pipes will be installed in 6 days. When this is operational, I'll be able to work both sites from either location."

"That's incredible. How did you get all of this done in 12 days – no, I forgot: 'anything's Possible,' correct?" and she smirked.

"That, and Slim has what seems like 2 out of the top 5 graduates from every EE, ME, and CS program west of the Mississippi and a few from east of it out here working for him. On a ranch, no less!"

"I should have known as much," and she grinned. "Slim was always trying to one-up his brother, and Jim had complained that he hadn't been able to get some of the students at the Space Center that he wanted. I suspected that they had come out here, and this confirms it."

"Drakken would have gone crazier than normal if he'd tried to hand out 'Silly Hats' over here," and Betty laughed.

"You have all of the files, Betty," I continued. "Do you want access to my hard drive and backup system files to confirm?"

"No, Wade, I trust you."

"Nothing like a good threat to get what you want, is there?"

"Wade! I'm hurt! I didn't threaten you: I just defined the scenarios, the basic flow, and the alternate paths, and you chose the correct path."

"You are **evil**, Dr. Director."

"Why Wade, however can you have that opinion of me?" and she played the 'innocent little girl' act, and I laughed so hard that she started laughing, as well. I turned serious for a moment.

"Joss is ready for some fishin' time with you, Betty. When are you coming?"

"We've just about run all of the recruits into the ground. Will is having a wonderful time pushing them to perform above their understanding of their own capabilities, physically, mentally, and psychologically. They'll all make the cut, but there will be some serious 2-day passes needed for most of them."

"Why don't you check with Slim and see if he's got some 'Tornado' time for Will and the gang? They could probably use some time outside of Middleton before they go on assignment."

"I'll do that, Wade."

"Besides, you've got trout in the stream with your name on them waiting for you here."

"**You** are the evil one, Wade. You know how much I love brook trout."

"Then you'll be even happier: Ron's coming up for a week's vacation to cook."

Her face lit up like Times Square on New Year's Eve. "Really? All of his pastas are 'da bomb,' and I've heard that he can make a trout stand up and tango on your dinner plate, it's so good."

"'da bomb?' Betty, you need some time away from Will."

"Working on it. Thanks for the heads-up on Chef Ronald, Wade. Talk to you soon," and she disconnected.

- - - - - - -

A/N:

Breaking news: Che' Ronald is opening a branch in Montana!

To my loyal readers:

We're starting to see some answers to the questions at the end of Chapter 3, but there are still some questions outstanding, and new ones are starting to be coalesce. I'll collect them and present the next set at the end of Chapter 6.

Remember, Wade is 13 going on 35 going on 13, so his mind bounces from puberty to business to puberty to business to puberty …. Betty and Joss aren't helping any, either!

Stay tuned for chapter 5: 'Remember'. Thanks for reading, and please review.


	5. Chapter 5: Remember

Blue Eyes, Shining

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

To everyone who is reading: Thank you. I never expected this story to take off as it has, and I did not expect the readership, either. To borrow a phrase from Joss: It's spankin'!

To my reviewers after chapter 4 publishing, some quick comments:

Zaratan: Betty wants you to know that she appreciates your compliments, but, and I quote, "not EVEN in your dreams, Big Z!" AtomicFire: Joss is getting perturbed that no one is paying attention to her. If I were you, I'd start reading those sections about her; remember, she has rope, and she's not afraid to use it. Whitem: We'll see the center in action far sooner than we'd like to. By the way, Joss says that she doesn't '**play**' innocent, she **is** innocent (and Wade concurs: he knows what's good for him.)

Yankee Bard: some answers coming in this chapter, and hopefully answers won't generate too many more questions….The Incredible Werekitty: Wade wanted me to remind you of the Everlot affair and Malcolm, and said that he still has the wand. Hmmm….DunnKillikganFan: Betty called, and said that she's feeling needy, and something about making it worth your while (everyone running for the door). Hmmm…I don't ask, I won't tell.

Campy: These are most definitely some interesting folks….dartblade: Thanks for the compliments; detailed backgrounds, imho, are necessary for longer stories to allow you, the readers, to understand what's going on in that warped place that is my mind. MrDrP: (Wade) Hey, I'm 13 and s super genius, not 35, and my hormones are in serious flux, so cut me some slack! BTW, Ron mumbled something about Kim 'coming up to the ranch for some snackage;' I thought they had that in Florida.

And, to Jyuami: Glad you started up; hope you enjoy the ride!

Enjoy! Please read and review. As Kim would say (sorry, Joss): Please, and thank you!

- - - - - - -

Chapter 5: Remember

(From the archives and logs of Dr. Wade Load.)

- - - - - - -

I'd been here just 16 days, and I've never been so tired in my life. I guess that all of the 20-hour days did that to me.

We have all of the networks installed, firewalls installed, servers installed, desktops (so to speak) installed, software installed, databases data loaded onto servers, and applications operational. In my spare time I had to build, configure, and test 25 PosComm handheld units (that's the name Joss came up with: she said she'd change it if someone came up with something better) with the upgraded GreenTap remote access capability. Slim had great interns working with him to 'shovel imaginary poop from behind Tornado:' these ladies and gentlemen were the cream of the crop, and not just on paper: they could configure wireless networks and databases and construct anything that I could dream up (and, remember, I have a pretty vivid imagination).

BAD WADE!

BAD WADE!

BAD WADE!

Well, they couldn't build that….

- - - - - - -

Joss and I only had one fight in that 16 days; that amazed me, because when she gets tired she gets as cranky as Kim, and when I get tired I'm no saint, either. Unfortunately, that fight almost cost me everything. It was on day 10 when my world almost ended; coincidentally, what almost ended my world also started a journey into a new world, a new frontier…

- - - - - - -

"Joss, where's your plan?"

"What plan, Wade?"

"Why are we doing all of this?"

"So I can help people, Wade."

"Well you can't do it like Kim did." '**That** was the wrong thing to say, Wade,' I realized when she reached down inside and the Jocelyn beast emerged, full-voiced.

"I AM NOT DOING WHAT KIM DID, WADE! CAN'T YOU GET IT THROUGH THAT THICK SKULL OF YOURS? I AM **NOT** KIM!" I never knew that that much sound could come out of someone so petite.

"I'm sorry, Joss. I wasn't implying that you were; what I wanted to know was who you wanted to help and why so I could begin to configure the PosComms and work with the DBAs to load the data and balance the environments."

"You don't understand: I have to do this, Wade," she had dialed it back a notch and was a bit calmer, but the eyes still showed her anger. "I have to fight this fire."

"What fire, Joss? I understand that you want to help, but you've never told me who you want to help or why you want to do it, and I still don't fully understand what you what to do," by now my exhaustion was getting the best of me, and I had an edge to my voice. Wrong thing to have, that edge, because it triggered a reaction.

"Why do **I** have to tell **you** anything and everything, Wade? You're just going to tell Kim, aren't you, and then she'll have it all, and she'll do it all, and she'll have Ron, and she'll have you, and I'll be all alone again, just like I was when Mom died, and I was alone for a long time, and I HAVE TO DO THIS, THAT'S WHY!" and she turned and ran away from me.

"Joss? JOSS!" I shouted as I ran after her. I finally caught her and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Joss?" I turned her and tears were streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry, Wade, it's not you, Wade, it's not you. Don't you understand?" and she broke free and ran back to the house. The 'ranch hands' that witnessed this 'conversation' said nothing, and just returned to work.

I stood there, trying not to collapse. I had just done the one thing I had sworn to myself and Betty that I'd never do: I had hurt Joss. I didn't know what I had done, but I somehow was responsible. I had to leave. Now. Before I hurt here again. I couldn't do that, again: hurt her. I turned and trudged back to my room to pack and call Betty for a trip back to Middleton.

What I felt now was a myriad of emotions: fear because of what I knew would be the consequences of my actions, anger and self-loathing at myself for what I had done, and shame because of what I'd done: I knew that Joss was tired and stressed, and I pressed her anyway. I wasn't sure which one made me feel worse.

- - - - - - -

I was halfway finished packing, still trying to figure out what I was going to tell Slim and Betty (I'd better update my will before I leave, I thought) when a knock came at my door, and it opened to reveal Slim.

'I don't want to go to a black hole, so kill me now, I deserve it' was what I thought.

"Wade, we need to talk," and Slim sat in the chair at the desk and motioned to me to sit.

"What do you know about Joss' mom, Wade?" he asked.

"Nothing other than what I have heard from Betty. I'd started to do some digging before I came, and I stopped."

"Why'd you stop?" Slim was smiling; he already knew why.

"I couldn't find anything more than her name and DOB/DOD; I couldn't find where she was born, where she went to school, anything."

"There's a reason for than, Wade," and Slim leaned back and put both of his feet up on the desk. "Get comfortable, son. I'll tell you a bit, and we'll see how it goes."

"No," he said, sitting up straight. "You deserve to know something about what's happening, and why."

"I just left mah little girl who'd been crying in my room on my bed. She had slammed thru the door, yelled 'THAT WADE!' and fell face-first on the bed, jus-a-bawlin' her eyes out.

"After 10 minutes of her bawlin' and givin' me creative ideas as to what Ah should do to you – Son, don't ever get on her bad side: you'd be tons safer facing Squirt or me or even Kim than SweetTea when she's mad – and I wuz getting' ready to call Squirt for a launch date, she sat up and asked me, "'Daddy, am I pretty?'"

"Huh?" was all I could get out. 'Brain to ears; Brain to ears; please repeat that last transmission.'

"She asked me again after I didn't respond: 'Daddy, do you think I'm pretty?'"

"'Well, D'OI!'" I responded, and she laughed.

"'Daddy, do you think I'm smart?'"

"'Order up: an extra-large helpin' of D'OI!'" I responded, and she laughed again.

"'Daddy, am I as pretty as Momma was?'"

"Ah swear, I had a horned toad the size of China in my throat when she asked me that. 'Why, yes, Sweet Tea, you are as pretty as your momma,' I finally got out, 'remember, though, I didn't know her until I met her after we both finished grad school,' I added."

"'Then why can't I get boys to like me the way that Kim does?'"

'Brain to ears: Brain to ears: we are losing reception. Please re-send.'

"'What do you mean, Sweet Tea?'"

"'Well, Ron loves Kim, and Wade loves Kim, and –'"

"NO!" I jumped up from the bed. "Slim, believe me when I tell you: I do not love Kim like that! Please don't tell James that! I'm too young to ride in probes!" I was scared out of my skin: for the second time in less than an hour, I knew real fear.

"Relax, Wade, I know that," Slim continued, "and so does Squirt: he's come to grips with the fact that Ron finally figured out that he loves Kim (that boy is in love, but sometimes he's slower than a rock chasing a rabbit), but he's not going to tell Annie or Ron or Kim: he's gonna enjoy messin' with their minds for a spell, and then he'll tell them how he really feels about Ron.

"Anyway, I asked her what she meant. Wade, she's 13, as are you, and she's been around adults almost all of her life, as have you, but she's never spent much time around people her own age or around people who aren't already old and married, unlike you and Ron and Kim and Felix and Monique, so she's not sure what to do."

"What to do?" I asked, hoping and fearing the answer.

"Wade, before you even came here, she had a 6-week crush on you after she had that 3-week crush on Ron. You didn't know that, did you?" Slim grinned. "And she doesn't know that I knew that she had it, either. Of course, your picture plastered all over her room was a dead giveaway, though."

Big wow.

"Wade, you've been around adults too long, and you laugh about Kim's blindness about Ron's feelings about her, but you're dumber than a dodo bird in heat when it comes to yourself:

"She doesn't know what to do when she wants to go a'courtin', Wade," and Slim had a Sylvester the Cat grin on his face, and I was Tweety bird. Big gulp: Slurpster, extra large.

"'Kin you not tell that the lassie's got a thing for ye, man?'" Bad Western/Scottish: not a good mix from Slim, especially since he was laughing while sacrificing the English language on the alter of bad jokes. I laughed in spite of myself and at myself and in a great deal of relief, mainly relief that Slim was laughing, but then panic set in: **Joss** had a **thing** for **me**? I had to sit back down.

"Wade, she's not Kim, and she knows it. What she doesn't know is that her IQ is 40 points higher than either Jim or Tim. She's one smart girl, Wade, and she doesn't even realize how smart she really is because she's always been around people older and with more degrees than she has, since she's just starting ninth grade. She's book smart, Wade, but she's not life smart.

"If that isn't bad enough, Wade, she wants to "Save the World," leaving the super villains to Kim and tackling the hurricanes and tornados and floods and earthquakes and forest fires and, unfortunately for me, the not-so-super villains: the cowards with the guns, and the angry people with the bombs and IEDs. She knows what she wants to do, Wade: She wants to be FEMA and Global Justice all in one by the age of 15 with no ties to anyone but herself. She knew that she couldn't do it alone; when you called and offered to help, she was ecstatic: she still doesn't realize how big what she wants to do right now is, and she needs help. I'd like for her to scale back a bit.

"Wade, I know you like my daughter a lot: no, Betty hasn't told me anything (even though I suspect that she knows more than she's tellin' me). You wouldn't be here if you didn't like her a little bit, and you wouldn't still be here if you didn't like her a lot, and you wouldn't be packin' if you didn't like her more than **I** thought you did and even more than **you** thought you did."

"Slim, how'd you get so smart?" I asked, honestly, and he laughed.

"I got married and listened to my wife, Wade.

"And, besides all of that, Sweet Tea is startin' to have nightmares, again, about her mother and what happened," Slim said, his voice cracking, "and I can't tell here everything without Betty here, and sJoss is goin' to need someone to lean on, and I wuz kinda hopin' it'd be you, Wade."

'Brain ceasing transmission acceptance; has encountered a stack overflow…,' and I felt woozy.

"Wade, are you all right?" Slim asked me, but I barely heard it. I shook my head several times to stop him from talking, but also to give myself some time to focus and collect everything I'd heard in the last 6 minutes, and see if I could digest all of this and Joss' comments about her mom…wait: she was with her when she died, and then she was all alone? Where were they? She wouldn't have been alone in a hospital, so where were they when Sheri died?

"Don't ask me about Sheri Nicole, Wade; I can't tell you, not yet. The good news is, you have all of the necessary GJ and Federal clearances. The bad news is, Betty's on her way here, and she's going to talk to both of you, but she wants to talk to you, first, before she has the big talk with Joss."

Visions of the insides of space probes and oxygen tanks suddenly flashed thru my mind: maybe they would give me enough oxygen…who was I kidding? After Will and Kim and Squirt finished with me, there'd be nothing left to send but a greasy spot.

"Slim, am I entitled to a last meal?"

- - - - - - -

I'd stayed in the room for over 3 hours, and I still hadn't heard from Joss or Slim. I had heard Betty's jet land about an hour ago, so I was expecting her. There was a knock at my door, and I invited the person to enter.

"Hello, Wade," and Betty walked into my room. In the past, this would have been my dream come true. Now, it was my worst nightmare. I sat quietly, waiting for Will Du-Duh to come for me or for her to handcuff me and take me to him.

"You did the right thing, Wade," she said as she sat where Slim had been, at the desk, and put her feet up on the desk. She sounded calmer than I expected.

"Wha -?"

"Talking to Slim, Wade, rather than running away. And, no, Will's not here, so don't get worried.

"We've both been dreading this day, Slim and I," she stated after a pause, so much softer than I'd ever heard her speak, "when she began to remember, what she would do, how we were going to tell her about Sheri.

"Wade, you don't have to do this. You can leave now, and neither Slim nor I will think any less of you. Just understand, though: once you've gotten into this, there's no turning back. This is light-years worse than anything that you and Kim and Ron have ever faced, and you may not want to be a part of any of this."

"Then, why is Joss being forced to deal with it?"

"Wade, none of us asked for this. Joss certainly didn't ask for it, and neither did Slim nor Sheri nor I; Slim certainly didn't asked for his wife to be kidnapped and tortured and killed."

"WHAT?" This was certainly not Frugal Lucre bargain-basement evil.

"Wade: you're playing in the majors now, if you choose to. You can walk away, now."

If Ron could do it for himself and Kim…and I remembered what Joss had said about Ron being a hero, doing what he was most afraid to do. Well, I was afraid of dying, so…I threw my suitcase back onto the bed, opened it, and dumped the contents onto the bed (like the drama? I liked it, but not 3 days later when I thought of how stupid it must have looked when I did it).

"I'm in, Betty. This is not Team Impossible attacking my network, but I'm in."

Betty sat there, silent, with no expression on her face.

"What?"

Still silence.

"WHAT?"

Silence, and then a smile.

"I just didn't realize how much…You really **do** love her, don't you, Wade?"

"She's going to have way too much on her mind to worry about my feelings, Betty. Please don't tell her."

"That horse is so far out of the barn, it's at Belmont," Betty smirked.

"Translation, bitte."

"Joss feels the same way about you, and **she's **worried about your feelings."

"Well…." and I felt like an idiot. No time, Wade.

"So, how and when are you and Slim going to do this?"

"After Joss and I come back from fishing this afternoon."

"Fishing?"

"Fishing. I've got to catch those trout for dinner. I also have to dodge Joss' questions about her mom's death until after dinner. That part's not going to be easy."

- - - - - - -

"Wade!"

"Ron! I heard you were coming up, bit I didn't expect you today."

"Yeah, well, it was come early or clean the garage and my room, so I snuck out and rode up. Wow, Wade, you're starting down the studly path, looking good." He glanced around, then whispered conspiratorially, "How's Joss?"

"She's doing ok."

"Fight, huh?" He grinned.

"What have you heard?" Now I was worried.

"Wade, whenever Kim and I had a fight and, after the fight, people would ask me how I was doing, I'd always answer 'She's doing ok.'"

"Oh."

"It's all right, Wade; Rome not in one day, and all that. Say, have your seen the other Mr. Dr. P? I'm looking for the kitchen; I told him I'd trade cooking for some riding lessons on Ol' Tornado."

"He's in the command bunker. Hey, Betty's here, and she and Joss are out fishing for trout, and Betty wants your special trout dish."

"Ah, the Pecan Trout ala Ronald: Oft imitated, none have succeeded."

"Is Kim coming?"

"Nope: she and the tweebs are in Florida with the Doctors P visiting Nana Possible: something about Nana saying that she was going to teach Kimberly Ann to make edible lemon squares or die trying," and Ron visibly shuddered. "I hope I don't have to attend a funeral in the next 3-4 weeks," and I laughed.

"'She can do anything,'" I added, "but boil water,"

"And she is **still** working on how to get back at you for putting that on her website, Wade," and Ron was grinning.

"Me? Not me, I would never do anything like that," and I tried to look innocent, but Ron's version of the PDP (puppy-dog pout) was so bad that I had to laugh.

"Command bunker? How's it coming along?"

"The bunker's coming along nicely; I think we'll be finished soon, about seven or eight more days of work."

"That's great. Can I get a tour?"

"Tomorrow, Ron. Right now, the painters are everywhere, the flooring guys are where the painters aren't and last of the shielded cabling for the wireless network is being pulled."

"Cabling for a wireless network?"

"It's a school thing, Ron. I'll explain it tomorrow."

"Kinda like my trout: often difficult for people to understand?"

"Hey, at least you don't put marshmallows on it."

- - - - - - -

I came to the small dining room off of the larger hall, and there was a table for 6 set up, candles and white linen tablecloth, and soft music playing in the background.

"Welcome to Chez Ronald," the voice came over the speakers. Bad French accent.

"Ron, it's me."

"Oh. Hi, Wade."

"I got a message that dinner was going to be in here, but there are only six place settings."

"That's what I was told to prepare: dinner for six."

"That's what I told him, Wade," and Slim came into the room with Betty on one arm and Joss on the other. "I believe you know your dinner partner," Slim stated, matter-of-factly, nodding towards Joss.

I stared at her: she was looking down at the floor and not looking at me. I could see a bit of her face: she looked sad, but she looked better than she did the last time I saw her, running away from me.

"Joss?"

She looked up. "Wade?" It was such a pitiful and hurt sound that I wanted to cry for her.

"Joss, I'm sorry. Can you ever in a million years forgive me?"

She said nothing, but she walked over to me, stood looking me in the eyes, and suddenly threw her arms around me and gave me a fierce hug.

My arms were hanging down, again: she seemed to know how to give me 'stealth hugs,' but I certainly wasn't complaining. I moved my arms up to her back to hold her closer, and she responded by squeezing me even closer. After several moments, she pulled back and looked at me squarely in the eyes.

"Don't you ever plan on sneakin' out of here, agin, you here me, Wade?" She said this only loud enough for me to hear, and I smiled at her tone.

"Yes, ma'am," I replied and gave her a big grin, and she broke into a smile that would outshine suns, and she hugged me again.

"I'm sorry, too, Wade," she whispered into my ear. "I should never have treated you like that. Do you forgive me?"

"Of course I do, 'Sweet Tea,'" I whispered back, and I was squeezed as she yelled:

"DADDY!"

In trouble, better Slim than me.

- - - - - - -

Dinner was delightful:

Ron's Pecan trout cooked in a concoction that is best not described (one, because you'd never believe that someone would ever have mixed those ingredients to create that masterpiece; and, two, because Ron threatened to tell Kim about the battlesuit (guess he figured out the fitting secret, too!));

a spinach salad with a vinaigrette that I didn't recognize topped with sliced boiled eggs and Ron-made croutons seasoned with garlic and oregano;

a baby vegetable combination (asparagus and corn) side dish lightly sautéed in butter (I think he waved the butter at the vegetables);

freshly-baked bread; and

a dessert that was best described as a cloud floating atop fresh peaches and strawberries.

Ron joined us as he served each course, mainly so he could be with his dinner partner: a female brunette 2nd year grad student/GJ trainee named Rebecca Jane Casey who had wored for Slim before starting her GJ training; she was totally infatuated with the "Team Possible" Ron and in love with "Chef" Ron after she'd tasted the croutons: she asked Ron repeatedly if he would join her for an evening soak in the hot tub. Ron, to his credit (he had caught on, after all of his time with Kim), politely declined: even her version of the puppy-dog pout didn't work on him.

Joss harassed him all evening long, occasionally reaching under the table and squeezing my hand and looking at me when she didn't think anyone would notice. Well, at least she was no longer planning my demise.

Ron was ever the gentleman: he kissed Joss' hand and thanked her for allowing him to serve her dinner (beet red deluxe!), and he kissed Betty's cheek and thanked her for the trout (I didn't think that anything would embarrass Betty, but I was wrong). He shook Slim's hand and thanked him for use of the facilities, promising to come back and take care of the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, over Slim's objection and offer to have it taken care of. He then came to me, shook my hand, leaned over, whispered "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" and grinned as he offered Rebecca his arm and escorted her out. Ron had been able to beg off of the hot tub experience by offering a moonlight walk: I wasn't going to tell Kim.

Slim stood, pulled Betty's chair back, and offered her his arm, which she took. I catch on quick, and did the same for Joss. She took my arm, and smiled. We followed Slim and Betty to a corner of the large dining room that had a group of couches set up next to an old-style stereo system with an LP player alongside a combined CD, DVD, and MP3 unit and huge Klepp speakers. Slim and Betty sat on one couch, holding hands; I offered Joss a seat, and sat next to her. She put her hand out, and I took it.

"Darlin," Slim started.

"Yes, dear," Betty responded sweetly, and Slim hit at her.

"Not you, Betty, Sweet Tea."

"DADDY! You told Wade!"

"Well, it's better than Kimmie-cub," was Slim's excuse, and Joss laughed, but turned to me.

"Don't ever call me that in front of anyone else, you got me?" There was fire in the eyes, and simultaneously calmness.

"Yes, my very own 'Sweet Tea,'" I replied sweetly, and she hit at me. She was feeling better.

"You wanted to talk to us, and you asked that Wade be here," Betty stated.

"Yes ma'am. I'm tired of these nightmares, and Daddy told me that you would tell me what happened to my momma."

I'd never seen Betty try to dodge anything so strongly, nor had I ever seen her look so sad. After a few moments, she spoke

"What do you remember?"

"Lots of different disconnected things, but I've been thinking about them and put them in the order that I remember them happening," Joss replied, and she became more agitated with her mention of each item.

"A large needle;

"momma tied to a chair; she couldn't move her hands or feet;

"bad men and women around me and her;

"me shaking her for a long time and her not moving;

"momma's blue eyes, unmoving, staring at me;

"gunfire everywhere;

"Betty: you scooping me off of the bare, bloody wooden floor, wiping blood off of my hands, and carrying me out;

"Fire coming from the building that we were in."

Joss calmly ticked these items off like she was checking off a grocery list. Each one of them was a knife in my heart: how could she have lived with all of this?

I looked at Slim and Betty: Slim recoiled at each phrase, and Betty just sat there, but tears were fighting her face to escape, and they were about to win.

Joss was quiet for a few moments after she finished the list. She looked at me, a single tear came down her cheek, she squeezed my hand even tighter, and then her dam exploded, and out came the flood of tears.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MOMMA?" she screamed and squeezed my hand even harder.

- - - - - - -

A/N

To my readers:

We're starting to see some answers to the questions at the end of Chapter 3, but there are still some questions outstanding, and new ones are beginning to coalesce. I'll collect them and present an updated set at the end of Chapter 6.

Remember, Wade is 13 going on 35 going on 13, so his mind and his hormones resonate between puberty and adulthood/business and puberty and….

Please let me know if you feel that I'm heading for a rating change.

Stay tuned for chapter 6: 'Goodbye, we're parted'. Thanks for reading, and please review.


	6. Chapter 6: Goodbye, we’re parted

Blue Eyes, Shining

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The lyrics to the song quoted in this chapter are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

To everyone who continues to read and review: Thank you, and: You're spankin'!

An unsolicited plug: _Mating Games_, by campy, is an outstanding piece. Read and review: you'll enjoy it, trust me (and, no, I'm not selling weather machines).

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Chapter 6: Goodbye, we're parted

(From the archives and logs of Dr. Wade Load.)

- - - - - - -

"I remember lots of different disconnected things, but I've been thinking about them and put them in the order that I think I remember them happening," Joss replied to Betty's question, and she became more agitated as she mentioned each item:

"A large needle;

"momma tied to a chair; she couldn't move her hands or feet;

"bad men and women around me and her;

"me shaking her for a long time and her not moving;

"momma's blue eyes, unmoving, staring at me;

"gunfire everywhere;

"Betty: you scooping me off of the bare, bloody wooden floor, wiping blood off of my hands, and carrying me out;

"Fire coming from the building that we were in."

Joss calmly ticked these items off like she was checking off a grocery list. Each one of them was a knife in my heart: how could she have lived with all of this?

I looked at Slim and Betty: Slim recoiled at each phrase, and Betty just sat there, but tears were fighting her face to escape, and they were about to win.

Joss was quiet for a few moments after she finished the list. She looked at me, a single tear came down her cheek, she squeezed my hand even tighter, and then her dam exploded, and out came the flood of tears.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MOMMA?" she screamed and squeezed my hand even harder.

- - - - - - -

This was not how Joss was supposed to end up in my arms.

I had already planned it in my mind: a candlelight dinner, music from a jazz orchestra, her in her beautiful red dress, me in my white tux and tails, us dancing, and me holding her in my arms.

**NOT:**

Me, holding Joss as she released the flood of tears, with Slim and Betty sitting across from us and both of them looking "rode hard and put up wet." Your mother kidnapped, tortured, dead, and you as her daughter remember it? That isn't sick and wrong, it's wrongsick on so many levels.

- - - - - - -

Joss finally calmed down enough to realize where she was, and she blushed a bit as she tried to pull away.

"Hush," I whispered, and squeezed her. "I'll be here if you want me to, or I can leave."

"Don't go," she whispered back. "I need you to help me get thru this, Wade. I can't do it alone, and I couldn't bear to hear this without you."

"I won't leave you, Joss," and I kissed her forehead. "I'll stand with you through **all** of it."

"Thank you, Wade. You're **my** hero," and she pulled back enough so that I could see her smile defeat the emotion ninjas fighting inside of her.

Joss squeezed me one last time, then turned to face Slim and Betty, our hands together, and announced, in a clear, strong voice, "Dad, Betty: tell us."

Betty looked at Slim, then turned and faced us again: her face wore the sadness smile, and her tears were barely dry. Slim's face had sorrow etched into it: he was about to voluntarily gouge open wounds that had taken him almost 10 years to heal.

- - - - - - -

Slim began:

"Sweet Tea: first of all, you were a pistol even back then, and your mother loved you **so** very much…."

"This all happened while we lived in London. Your mother and I loved it, and you were enthralled by the strangest combinations: the changing of the Royal Guard, Scotland Yard; Big Ben and afternoon teas. You were three, but you were already ahead of all of the young'uns your age.

"Your mother worked for a large multinational firm as an analyst and cultural attaché; she was actually involved in 'other activities' that were more critical before the collapse of the Soviet Union. She had been studying future possible threats and had done her dissertation on that subject; she had caught the eye of someone in the relatively-new organization named Global Justice: GJ was still in its infancy back then, easily overshadowed by the likes of an Interpol.

"I had not foreseen any problems, but she had.

"One morning, she left to walk you to school and to go to work. I was so glad that I had kissed you and her and told y'all that I loved you before you left…

- - - - - - -

"'Mr. Possible?' The three men at the door, all in dark suits, showed me their GJ IDs; they were either real or excellent forgeries. The lady in an Air Force uniform showed me both a GJ and a USAF ID. 'May we come in? We need to talk to you about your family.' And the four of them stepped into the flat almost before I could say yes.

"'It's Dr. Possible, and what in the heck is going on? I haven't seen my wife or daughter in six days, and the police have no information: they suggested that she ran and took my daughter, and I'll tell you now that that's bull hockey.' I was ranting as they ran a bug sweep of our flat. When they finished and were satisfied that nothing was there (nothing unexpected, at least), they told me that someone had found Sheri's purse and your backpack in the tube station near South Wimbledon. I told them that that made no sense because you went to school only a bit from here, and Sheri worked in Central London.

"'We know, Dr. Possible, that's one of the reasons that we're here.' He then told me that both the purse and backpack were covered in dried blood. They asked me for your blood types (which I gave them, even though I knew that they already had the information on our entire family) and told me that there would be someone posted near the house in case anything happened or someone came by.

"'Why would anyone want to take my wife and daughter?' I asked. They then told me about this group of individuals that were targeting American women and children; they thought that they were planning to sell them on the markets in the Middle East, but there was also some indication that they were also targeting Americans to try to force the US out of Middle Eastern political affairs.

"Before the gentlemen left, the leader of the group looked at me and smiled. 'I'm impressed that you didn't indicate that you knew Major Director,' he stated. 'Most civilians would have done so.'

"'If you were doing your job, you'd know my background,' I smiled, 'and you know that I wouldn't.'

"'Yes sir, Dr. Major Possible, I do. We'll do everything that we can to get your family back. Major, I assume that you and the Major will want to talk, so we'll leave,' and the gentlemen left the flat and closed the door. I turned and faced Betty.

"'What the heck is going on here? First, I get three greenhorns in suits showing up at my house running bug sweeps, and second you're with them.'

"'Slim, we think that they've been kidnapped, but we don't expect them to be returned alive.'

"Silence, then I asked:

"'Why would anyone do that, Betty?'

"'Do you remember her dissertation? I think that it's somehow related to that. My superiors disagree with me, and they and GJ both think that she ran and took Joss, so I asked to be placed on loan back to my inter-agency assignment until this is resolved; since you were Navy, we can investigate and not hinder GJ.'

"'Betty, you're a saint: Sheri would tell you that, if she was here, and Joss would' – and my veneer finally shattered, and I broke down. Betty grabbed me and held me as the seven day's worth of emotions escaped all at once.

"'I'll bring them back, "Sealie," I'll bring them back, I promise,' she said as I tried to remember how Sheri Nicole and Jocelyn smelled."

- - - - - - -

"Joss, your dad was a rock during this entire time, believe me," Betty stepped in as Slim was barely able to talk or even look at us. I knew what the percentages were: the fact that Joss was here at all was a miracle, since very few victims of kidnapping are recovered alive after three days, let alone seven.

"We received a lead a day later from an informant that was dying from a car wreck in Paris, and she told the police there that the two of you had been taken by high-target drug dealers and had been taken to the United States, somewhere in Texas or New Mexico. We updated out bulletin and sent it to the Texas Rangers and the New Mexico State Police; we immediately got a response: one of the dealers had been arrested and had made reference to prisoners that he was willing to trade for his release.

"Slim and I flew back to Dallas with the GJ team and had a 'conversation' with the dealer: he revealed that you would be dead in two days if he wasn't released."

Joss almost squeezed my hand off, and I couldn't help but sit there and take this in.

"After a 'short but lively discussion,' he told us the location. You and Sheri were being held in a ranch house in a small town in West Texas; we immediately left on high-speed choppers with three GJ teams, and flew into Goodfellow AFB, the military base nearest the ranch, and met with DEA and Border Patrol agents to coordinate our activities. We had planned the rescue along the way, and finalized it after we landed.

"We went in at 2 AM after cutting all of the communication lines to the ranch house. There were supposedly six people inside and the two of you, and we were able to neutralized four immediately. The fifth triggered an explosive before we got him; that started a massive fire in the house before we had located you, so we had to work quickly. The last room that we hit had you and your mother in it and we knew that you were locked inside a cage. The last man was in the room; he fired blindly at us after we tossed in a flash-bang through the window on the other side of the room, and four agents returned fire, killing him and spattering blood all over the room. He was one of the only two casualties of the operation

"I was right behind the first group in, and one of the agents shot the lock off of the cage and opened it just as I reached it. You were lying in a heap of filth, next to your mother. Sheri was strapped into a chair with an empty IV bag connected to her.

"I checked Sheri first: she was cold, and there was no pulse. I tried to close her eyes, but failed.

"I called your name, Joss, but you didn't move, at first. I went to you and shook you, and I was rewarded by my wildest dream come true: you moved, and then you opened your eyes a bit. I grabbed you up, wiped the blood from your face and hands, and carried you out of the cage, handing you to an agent who then began to check you for injuries and administered one of the antidotes that we had brought after another agent confirmed that the biological agent that we were dealing with was poisonous mushrooms; we had been concerned that we might be dealing with anything and were prepared for the worst case.

"I turned back to the cage and saw my wildest dream turn into my worst nightmare: your dad was standing next to your mom, stroking her hair, saying her name, and visibly shaking."

- - - - - - -

Joss was doing well until that last sentence, and then she buried her head into my shoulder, and the tears began again. I happened to look up after a few moments, and Slim and Betty were holding each other as Betty cried.

"I failed you, Slim. I promised you I'd bring them home, and I failed you," Betty was saying thru her tears.

"No, Betty, you didn't fail me, you didn't fail me. You gave me gifts of infinite value. I had answers, I had my daughter, and I was able to say goodbye to my wife," was his reply.

I heard Betty whisper, "Thank you, Slim."

"Momma wouldn't let them hurt me," Joss said quietly thru her tears. "The bad men wanted to hurt me, and Momma made them stop. That's why they tied her to the chair: so she couldn't hurt them anymore," Joss whispered, and Betty and Slim looked up in surprise.

"When they first had us, Momma tried to stop one of the bad men when he tried to touch me, and he hit her, and Momma kicked him, and he didn't get up," Joss had sat up and was facing me, telling me what happened. "Two more bad men came, and they cut Momma real bad, and they cut my arm. They blindfolded us, and they put us in a car, and we drove to an airport: I remember hearing the planes real close. They put a rag on my face, and I felt sleepy, and then I went to sleep.

"The next thing that I remember was waking up on the floor, and I couldn't see Momma. I called, and she told me she was all right and that I was all right, they had a mask on my face so I couldn't see," Joss was remembering things from 10 years ago and a three-year-old girl's perspective. 'Anything **was** possible for a Possible,' I guessed, but I didn't say anything.

"They wouldn't bring us any food, they told me that they were feeding us from the bag, and one of them pointed to the bags on the hangers. I didn't like it because when they fed me they would tie me down on a bed with wheels. When they took the mask off of me, I could see Momma. She was tied to a chair, and her hands and feet were tied down so she couldn't move any of them. She was being fed thru a bag, as well.

"Once, when they all left the room, I crawled over to Momma's chair and held her hand. She helped me stand up, and – DADDY, I REMEMBER! – she told me that she loved me and that to tell Daddy that she loved him!" and she buried her head in my shoulder again, and I could feel her shaking as she poured out emotions. I felt arms around me, and I looked up to see Slim and Betty holding both of us.

When Joss finally stopped shaking, she was even quieter. "The last time that I crawled over to Momma, she didn't answer me when I called. I pulled myself up, and I saw her, but she wasn't moving. I shook her, and she didn't move. I pinched her, and her arm was cold. I looked at her, and her eyes were staring at me, and there was dried water on her face. I sat down and then crawled back to my bedpile and lay down and cried; somehow, I knew that Momma was gone," and Slim squeezed us, and I heard Betty's sob into my ear.

"The next thing that I remember was someone shaking me, and I looked up and barely opened my eyes and saw something or someone, couldn't tell. I was real sick, and I didn't know if I was dreaming or awake. I felt the shadow pick me up and carry me out of my cage. I thought I smelled Daddy, but I couldn't tell. A nice man talked to me, and he gave me a shot, and he told me I would be sleepy for awhile, but I would be all better."

- - - - - - -

"The next thing that I remember was seeing Momma lying down, all pretty, in a box that had all sorts of cushions in it. There were flowers everywhere, and there were really big men standing around her like they were guarding her, and they all looked very sad.

"I remember the people talking about Momma, how brave and kind and caring she was. I remember the singing, and I remember you, Daddy, and Betty trying not to cry where I could see you.

"I remember them closing the box and carrying her out of the church, these big men all in uniforms with tears on their faces. I remember holding your hand, Daddy, and you telling me that everything would be all right. I remember you, Betty, holding my other hand as we walked in the grassy field.

"I remember the big men in uniforms holding large guns pointed in the air and shooting them: the noise scared me, at first, but I got used to it and missed it when it stopped.

"I remember a man walking up to Daddy and handing him the thing that was covering Momma in the church. It was folded in a triangle, and he said something like 'thank you.'"

She looked up at Slim. "Daddy, how did you live through all of this? You must have been devastated, and you had me asking you stupid questions all the time."

Slim looked at her thru his tear-streaked eyes and replied, "I lived thru it, Sweet Tea, because I saw your Momma every time you smiled, every time you pouted; I heard her every time you laughed, and I touched her every time you held my hand.

"And, I remember her every time I look at your face, look into your eyes. I remember my Sheri Nicole, Jocelyn, and I won't ever forget her, or you," and Joss smiled at him. The wounds were beginning to close.

"Did you know that, with all her style and grace, she was a country-western music fan?" Slim said to no one in particular. "Some of the new stuff, sure, but she especially loved the 40s and 50s styles. Her favorite song was the Roy Acuff original recording of Fred Rose's "Blue Eyes, Crying, in the Rain;" he hit the remote, and the scratchy recorded music came from the huge Klepp speakers, and then Roy began to sing:

_In the twilight glow I see her blue eyes crying in the rain  
When we kissed goodbye and parted I knew we'd never meet again  
Love is like a dying ember only memories remain  
Through the ages I'll remember blue eyes crying in the rain_

_Now my hair has turned to silver all my life I've loved in vain  
I can see her star in heaven blue eyes crying in the rain  
Some day when we meet up yonder we'll stroll hand in hand again  
In a land that knows no parting blue eyes crying in the rain_

"She's always with us, Sweet Tea, but we'll meet her again, some day," and I moved aside and let Slim and Joss have time without me.

Betty motioned for me to follow her, and we went to the other couch and sat.

"You done good, Wade, you're my hero tonight," and she kissed me on the cheek. Glad she couldn't see **that** blush!

I didn't realize how much I had cried, or that I even had cried, during all of this.

I was drained, exhausted, and just from listening to this.

Kim and Ron didn't realize how lucky they had been and how blessed that they were: the worst thing that they had to deal with was a mutant octopus and Li'l Diablos. They had both of their parents.

How Joss had survived this, I didn't know. How she had not grown up raging at the night, I could only thank Slim for helping her.

Slim! He'd had to live through all of this and never told tell Joss. He was stronger than Hego ever dreamed of being. I wondered if Mr. Dr. P knew the whole story, or knew how lucky he was.

Betty! She'd spent this entire time believing that she'd failed.

Any doubts that I had about helping Joss were gone, forever buried deeper than deep.

She was **my** hero.

"I'm no one's hero, Betty, but I have three new ones now: Slim, Joss, and you," and I reached over and hugged her. It didn't feel the same as it did the very first time that I hugged her, but it felt right this time.

We looked at father and daughter; I looked back at the Major sitting next to me, and I thought about how lucky Kim and Ron and I had been, so far. Kim and Ron, they were **my** heroes, as well.

Luck was going to be buried tonight, as had been my innocence:

_They deserved the best: **all** of them._

_**All** of my heroes deserved the best._

- - - - - - -

Slim and Joss stood up and walked over to us. We stood and faced them.

"Betty," Slim started, "I told you before that you didn't fail me. You've done more for me tonight than I've ever dreamed: you've given my daughter a chance to exorcize her demons. I don't know what I can do to ever repay you," and Slim grinned as he grabbed Betty and pulled her into a passionate kiss, complete with dip!

- - - - - - -

When they finally came up for air, Slim smiled and simply said, "Thank you, Betty."

Betty looked frazzled for the first time that I'd ever seen her like this, and then she replied to Slim, "Now I know what Sheri Nicole meant when she said you were a smokin' spankin' smacker. Now, I wonder why I waited this long…."

- - - - - - -

I looked over at Joss, and she had the same grin on her face that Slim had before he kissed Betty.

GULP!

"Wade, **you** didn't have to go thru this."

"Yes I did, Joss. I told you that I came up here to make sure, when you started, that you'd be safer than Kim and Ron were when they started. I promised you that, and I never break my promise."

"I know, Wade, but you didn't **have** to do it; you **chose** to do it," and she KISSED ME ON THE LIPS!

"And that's why you're **my** hero," and Joss blushed a deep red and took her dad's hand.

Slim just stood there, smiling. Betty had that Cheshire Cat grin on her face. Joss was smiling. I could use more of those smiles, I thought.

Me? I just stood there, grinning like an idiot, and thinking that I needed to be careful in what I wished for.

- - - - - - -

"I think that we all need to go to bed."

Betty grinned even bigger, Slim sputtered, and Joss turned even redder. Then I processed what I'd said, and -

"NO, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" and Betty grinned even bigger, and Slim grinned, and Joss just stared and captured Betty's Cheshire Cat look.

"What I meant was, none of us have had more than a four-hour nap since we started, and I think that we all could use a good night's sleep." WHEW, NOW WAS IT A SAVE?

"You're right, Wade," Joss agreed with the smile. SAVE!

I started my goodnights by first walking to Betty and hugging her, shaking hands with Slim, and then standing directly in front of Joss.

"Joss?"

"Yes?"

"You're **my** hero," and I hugged her and, when I let her go, I stole a kiss. "Good night, hero," I smirked, and then turned and walked towards the exit door.

- - - - - - -

I left the building and wandered on the ranch aimlessly for about 15 minutes, finding myself back at the front of the dining hall, where I ran into Ron.

"Ron! You look lost."

"Wade, you look like you went 12 rounds with Monkey Fist."

"Long story, Ron." I grinned. "Where's Rebecca Jane?"

"Wade, you've got a volunteer."

"?"

"Rebecca Jane wanted more of me than I was willing to give. I told her that Kim and I were getting real close, and she accepted that. Then, she wanted to know if you needed a full-time hand on your team; she said she something about being able to, and I quote, "shovel loads of imaginary Tornado output," whatever that means.

"What do you think, Ron?"

"Well if she's as good with her hands as she is with her lips,... Ron grinned wickedly.

"Ron, do I need to tell Kim about Rebecca Jane?"

"Only if I need to tell her about you and Joss, unless you've started a new habit of applying lipstick to your cheeks," and Ron's grin was even bigger. "Wade, welcome to the world of young love: you've been branded!"

I reached up and felt my cheek, then looked at my hand. It was true. Then I had a truly evil thought…

"I don't know, Ron, it looks like Betty's color," I replied.

Ron's jaw went about four feet underground.

"Don't worry, Ron, that's likely going to be Slim's problem, from now on," I said, jacking his jaw up to ground level.

"Slim? Mr. Dr. P and Dr. Director?" He was quiet for a moment, and then I knew that Ron was in the house:

"BOOYAH!" and his fist shot up to touch the sky.

- - - - - - -

A/N

To my readers:

I'm going to close this story line out after a few more chapters, and I'll pick back up in a new line. Currently, I'm planning to start the next story with the assembly of the new team, training sessions and the first missions of the new "Team Possible II." When Joss tells me the new name, I'll let you know.

We're answered several of the questions from the end of Chapter 3, but there are still some questions outstanding, and the new ones are coalescing nicely.

Here's what we know, so far:

Do Betty and Slim know each other? _Well, yes, they do!_

What did Betty do to Wade; she seemed to approves, so everything must be ok, right? _Things are much better after the last few chapters: Betty has blackmail material, and she's also seen Wade grow up in the span of an hour._

Is Wade going to have all of the Drs. P **and** Kim **and** Ron **and** the tweebs **and** Rufus to deal with while he's "working"? _Kim's cooking: break out the Hazmat suits and alert the National Poison Control Center (and say a prayer for Nana Possible)! _

What is Joss really thinking? _She likes Wade, but does she likelike him? Even more importantly, she knows he's got her back now._

What happened to Joss' mom? _We've seen that._

What about Mr. Dr. S? What is he going to think of this? _Slim is ok with this, and even more so after this chapter._

Wade knew that this wouldn't be easy, but just how hard is it going to be? _Pretty darn hard…but it looks like it's going to be fun, as well…_

What we don't know:

Is Ron still scared of Tornado? Are Kim and Ron going to have a **very** happy summer?

How far is the impact of what's she has remembered going to push Joss and Slim and Betty?

What about Ron and Rebecca Jane Casey: Is she going to cause problems for Ron and Kim, and is Kim going to go medieval on both Rebecca Jane and Ron or only Ron?

What is Slim going to tell Squirt and Anne about what he's learned today?

What is Betty going to do (and, more importantly, What will Global Justice do) with this newly-learned information?

What about Slim and Betty?

And, even more importantly, will Betty stand up DuffKilliganFan this weekend for Slim?

Stay tuned for chapter 7: Meet Up Yonder, and please read and review.


	7. Chapter 7: Meet Up Yonder

Blue Eyes, Shining

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

To everyone who continues to read and review: you're spankin'!

During my meditative period, my muse brought me another "gift," (be careful what you ask for) and, as a result, I've begun a new parallel line: BES-Intermezzi. BES-Intermezzi are interludes that provide additional for all (currently planned) 4 parts of the "Blue Eyes, Shining" saga and sequels to "Black Hole Deep version 2.0;" they, however, are not from Wade's point of view. These are explained in the overture chapter of BES-Intermezzi and will be referenced as appropriate in this story and future chapters.

So, if you want to know what happened after Wade "left the building" last night, read chapter 2 of BES-Intermezzi. Otherwise, just dive in here and enjoy the cool, clear water….

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Chapter 7: Meet Up Yonder

(From the archives and logs of Dr. Wade Load.)

- - - - - - -

I woke up the morning after my fight with Joss and the story of Sheri Nicole's death in a mood I'd not been accustomed to: I felt like singing!

I guess I understood why Ron was always smiling after he's have a fight with Kim: making up must be an art form, especially when practiced by the Possible women….

- - - - - - -

Two things happened that day that were memorable (besides Joss' smiles!): Ron and Tornado, and Betty and the plane.

- - - - - - -

"Ron, are you sure about this?"

"Yes, Wade, I'm sure." His lips may say yes, but his face says NO!

Joss rode up on Tornado, and stopped in front of Ron. "Ron, are you sure about this?" she asked.

"Yes, Joss, I'm sure. Why does everybody have to ask me that?"

"Because your face says 'NO, NO, NO,' Ron," Joss replied as she dismounted. Joss in riding jeans….

"I'm ready: I did it with monkeys, and I can do it with robot horses."

"I beg your pardon?"

"WHAAAA?" Ron jumped back more than a few feet; I was also surprised, but not as much as Ron.

"I forgot to tell ya, Ron, we made a few upgrades to Tornado since you've been here," Joss smirked.

"Good Morning, Master Ronald."

"Hhhhhhh-hello?"

"I apologize for the shock, but I was being compared to monkeys, and I had to say something."

"Nnnnno Big, errrr, What do I call you?"

"You may call me Tornado; I, however, will respond to whatever you choose."

"Do I need permission to ride?"

"No, Master Ronald, I don't care; I've already been told that you and Dr. Load have permission to ride all of my avatars."

"Avatars?"

"My duplicate likenesses: there are 5 of us at the moment; however, this body is the original Tornado that you attempted to ride the last time that you were here. I do apologize for what happened then, by the way."

"Wireless unit management?"

"That's right, Wade. We decided that there was no reason to try to expand the avatars by inserting all of the things into them when we could use a single control unit."

"That's correct, Miss Joss.

"Hop on, Ronald, and let's ride," and Tornado knelt for Ron to climb aboard. Ron mounted, put his feet in the stirrups, and grabbed the reigns. "What speed would you like, sir? Walk, Trot, Gallop, or Hell on wheels?"

"Hellonwheels?"

"Very good, Master Ronald," and Tornado immediately took off like 'hell on wheels."

"**YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**!"

"Ron!" both Joss and I shouted as Tornado did its impression of a 5-star rodeo bucking bronco, and Ron hung on for dear life. After a few seconds of this, Ron was hanging on and appearing to enjoy himself after the initial shock and even yelling "YEE-HAW!" and "BOOYAH!" Tornado slowed to a halt after the full 8 seconds, then calmly trotted Ron back to the spot in from of Joss and me.

"Excellent, Ronald. You took my best, and you stayed on. I bow to your superior skills," and Tornado knelt to allow Ron to dismount. Ron slid off and onto the ground, then kissed the ground. Rufus climbed out of his pocket and checked Ron's pulse and gave me a thumbs-up.

"Ron, are you ok?"

"Ground…"

"Ron?"

"Ground…good…Horse…fast…Ground…good… Horse…fast…" and Ron sat on the ground for a few minutes, repeating his ground and horse mantra.

"Rufus! Where were you last night?" I asked him, and he smiled real big!

"Big Wheel Cheddar!" and he rubbed his stomach, smiled, and burped: definitely cheddar.

"Ok," Ron said, standing up and hopping on Tornado's back. "Let's ride, big guy?"

"Where to, Ronald?"

"Where? Out there," and Ron pointed to the fields beyond the corral. "Let's jump this fence and get jinky on this ground," and Rufus jumped into Ron's pocket just in time, as Tornado jumped the corral fence, and the three of them galloped off into the sunrise.

"Well, I guess he's not afraid, anymore," Joss quipped, and I asked:

"You've never encountered the 'Ron factor,' have you, Joss?"

"No, what's that?"

I grinned some more. "Well, let's get to the bunker and I'll tell you…" and we walked back to the bunker to continue the days of work remaining.

- - - - - - -

Betty appeared towards the end of the day with a grin on her face and two parachutes.

"Betty, what's the sitch?" I asked, and Joss giggled. She's been doing a lot of that all day….

"Wade, I have a gift for you," and she tossed me one of the 'chutes.

"And, I do what with this?" I asked as I caught it.

"You go back to your room, put on some study shoes, and take you and the parachute to the plane."

"I need to be at the plane, why?" I was getting a sinking feeling; I didn't know that sinking was the wrong direction.

"So you can make your first jump, of course," Joss answered with a smirk that suddenly disappeared as Betty tossed her the other 'chute. "Me, too?"

"Yes, you too, Joss."

"Why?"

"Why not? Besides, if Ron can jump, so can you," was Betty's reply.

"But Ron screams all the way down and loses his pants on landing," I countered.

"Well, I guess you'll have to do better than that," Ron said as he walked in with his 'chute already on. "We can't have a lunar eclipse, now can we, Wade? Dark moon, rising, eh?" and Joss looked puzzled as Betty and I laughed at Ron's attempt at astronomical humor. "Besides, I need the practice, especially the pants-on part."

'Maybe I'm not cut out for this style of mission work,' I thought as we rode up to 10,000 feet in a plane with no door, and Joss, Betty, Ron, and I in the back along with Arnold Carlos, a GJ certified JumpMaster, and, of all people, Rebecca Jane Casey who, I learned on the way up to my pleasant surprise, was also a GJ certified JumpMaster. I counted again: 6 people boarded, and they were all here. "Who's flying the plane?" I asked.

"Will Du, back on the ground." Betty replied. "Why do you ask, Wade?"

"Just wondering," my fate's in the hands of Du-Duh. Oh, goody, I'll have to jump if I want to survive his landing, anyway.

"We're at optimal jump altitude, Dr. Director," Will's voice came over the speaker in the back of the plane as well as our headsets.

"Very well. Rebecca Jane, you're with Joss; Arnold, you're with Wade. Ron and I will be backup to Arnold and Rebecca Jane, respectively. Check your trainee's harnesses again," and that step completed with no incidents. "Very well: Arnold and Wade, stand ready," and he moved me to the doorway, and Betty counted down, "3….2….1…Jump!" and Arnold and I went out the door.

Now I knew why Ron screamed: it wasn't fear, it was the thrill of the jump, the realization that you were, for a few moments, free from gravity's bonds and actually flying. I could see Joss and Rebecca Jane next to us (well, as next to as you can get at 10,000 feet), but I couldn't tell if they were grinning or screaming: so much for that myth about being able to converse during free fall. I realized that, surprisingly to me, I was grinning.

Betty and Ron had dived past us, and had already popped their 'chutes; Betty's was standard GJ issue, and Ron's had the TP logo across the top.

Arnold motioned for me to pull the release. I did, and I felt a strong jolt and, suddenly, I was hanging in the air from the cords. I looked up, and the bright green square chute was magically suspended above me. Arnold had moved away and released his chute, as well, and was steering away from me. I held on and wondered why I had never done this before: this was an amazing feeling!

"How are you doing?" Arnold asked me across the headset.

"Wonderful!" I replied.

"Great! Don't get cocky," he answered back.

"Are you ok, Wade?" Betty asked.

"You've been holding out on me, this is fun!"

"You're still underage for most jumpers, but you've got two excellent instructors with you," Betty replied. "Joss, how are you doing?"

"SPANKIN!" was her reply.

"Ok, everyone, let's cut the chatter and get ready to come down," Arnold cut in, and he reminded us of the instruction that we'd been given before we took off. Ron and Betty were already on the ground and pulling their 'chutes in and out of our way.

I came down with surprisingly less jolt that I had expected. Arnold came over, watched me pop the harness release, and showed me how to pop gather my chute.

"Excellent first jump, Dr. Load."

"Yeah, Wade, that was smooth," Ron added as he came over. He grinned at me: "You can remove the grin, now, Wade."

"I don't think it's coming off for awhile, Ron," I replied. "I've done this virtually, but I've never actually been on a jump, before."

"WADE!" and I was assaulted by red hair as she grabbed me and threw me into a big hug. "That was soooo much fun. Let's do that all afternoon," and she pulled me into a tighter hug, then pulled back: she had that **look**, again.

Joss grabbed my face between her hands and kissed me. If this is what skydiving did to her….

For the first time, I kissed her back while she was kissing me, and now I knew what Ron's 'fireworks' comment meant. We separated, and we were greeted by hoots and back-slapping. Joss turned deep red, and I looked for a hole to climb into.

"Don't encourage them," Betty said to Rebecca Jane and Arnold. "They've got enough time to figure it out."

"Wade, my man!" and Ron slapped my back. "Got the lady in a tiz-zy!" and Joss got redder.

"Betty, thanks for the wonderful first time," I said, and Arnold grinned and Rebecca Jane laughed and Ron gave me a big thumbs-up, and I processed what I said….

"FIRST **JUMP**! FIRST **JUMP**! Geez, get your minds out of the gutter, will ya?" and Betty was laughing and trying to hide her tinge of red. I didn't look at Joss: I didn't want to see if 'the look' was genetic, as well. Rebecca Jane was exchanging high-fives with Arnold and Ron.

"This calls for a celebration," Ron exclaimed. "I'll go and heat up some of the trout from last night, and I'll whip up a fresh salad and dessert, and…What?" Betty was clearing her throat.

"Well, Ron, about last night's trout: well, I was hungry, and I had a snack, and I kinda got carried away, and, well…" Betty looked sheepishly as her voice trailed away, and Ron groaned.

"Betty! That was 4 whole trout and several pieces left over from last night: you ate them all?"

Betty nodded.

"Oh, man. Well, I guess we'll have to settle for Ronburgers stuffed with fresh chipoltles, freshly-chopped garlic, and freshly-grated cheddar cheese. Assuming, of course, that Rufus hasn't gotten into the fridge and gone thru the second wheel of cheddar…."

- - - - - - -

"What's up, Kim?"

"Is Ron still there?"

"Yes, he is," I replied. No 'Hey, Wade,' or 'Wade, how'ya doing?' I knew where I ranked.

"I've broken free of the Tweeb and parental gravitational pulls, and I'm on my way up to see him," she said dreamily, then paused and added, "and you, too, Wade, and Uncle Slim and Joss."

"Great! I didn't see the fire on the weather satellite scans from Florida; did everyone make it out ok?"

"WADE!" the look was back for a few moments, and then she laughed. "Nana said that I was an extremely unique student, but I made her lemon squares that even she said were passable. I'm bringing some up with me on the flight."

"You're not allowed to carry WMDs or chemical weapons on planes, Kim," and I held on for the explosion.

"WADE! When I get there, you get the first one," Kim replied, and not a positive response, either.

"Kim, isn't that cruel and unusual punishment? Or, at the least, attempted murder?"

"Do I need to put you in a room with DNAmy and Monty for 72 hours with no way to exit?"

"Gotcha. I'm stopping, now," Geez, someone's a bit testy.

"By the way, Kim, Ron and Tornado get along, now. They're out exploring the mountains."

"Good…wait, get along?"

"I'll explain it to you when you get here. Are you dropping in?"

"Yeah, someone didn't answer their Kimmunicator last night, and I had to bum a ride from a captain at McDill," Kim answered testily.

"Sorry, Kim, but I was tied up with Betty and Slim and Joss last night. Another long story: I'll let Joss tell you when you get here."

"'Ok, Wadie, you've got some 'splainin' to do.'"

"TV quotes, Kim? That's **so** not you," and I disconnected before Kim could respond. I immediately connected to Ron.

"Ron? Wade. Kim'll be here tonight, so add an extra plate tonight.

"And, Ron? Get your Pinkto CrummyTummy medicine ready: Kim's bringing the lemon squares she made."

I heard Rufus, in the background, yell "not me!" and scamper away.

"Oh, man."

- - - - - - -

A/N:

To my readers:

Remember to jump over to BES-Intermezzi chapter 2 if you want to know what happened after Wade left (after chapter 6 of Blue Eyes, Shining).

Stay tuned for chapter 8: No Sorrow.

Thanks for hanging with me: please remember the review button below!


	8. Chapter 8: No Sorrow

Blue Eyes, Shining

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

To everyone who continues to read and review: Danke, thank you,

This is the penultimate chapter (and it's the longest by far), so grab your carton of ice cream and a big spoon, sit back, relax, and get ready for the ride.

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Chapter 8: No Sorrow

(From the archives and logs of Dr. Wade Load.)

- - - - - - -

"This calls for a celebration," Ron exclaimed. "I'll go and heat up some of the trout from last night, and I'll whip up a fresh salad and dessert, and…What?" Betty was clearing her throat.

"Well, Ron, about last night's trout: well, I was hungry, and I needed a snack, and I kinda got carried away, and, well…" Betty looked sheepishly as her voice trailed away, and Ron groaned.

"Betty! That was 4 whole trout and several pieces left over from last night: you ate them all?"

Betty nodded.

"Oh, man. Well, I guess we'll have to settle for Ronburgers stuffed with fresh chipoltles, freshly-chopped garlic, and freshly-grated cheddar. Assuming, of course, that Rufus hasn't gotten into the fridge and gone thru the second wheel…."

- - - - - - -

"Ron? Wade. Kim'll be here tonight, so add an extra plate tonight.

"And Ron? Get your Pinkto CrummyTummy medicine ready: Kim's bringing the lemon squares she made."

I heard Rufus, in the background, yell "not me!" and scamper away.

"Oh, man."

- - - - - - -

Ron went to the kitchen to see what else he could prepare for dinner. Rebecca Jane offered to assist him in dinner preparation and went with him.

Arnold and Betty gathered all of the chutes and took them to repack.

That left Joss and me standing out in the courtyard.

"Joss, I think –" and I was stopped in mid-sentence as she kissed me again. When she pulled back, she got embarrassed, again.

"Wade, I just like kissing you so much…" as she blushed and stammered.

"Joss, I'm not complaining at all, but we've got to control our actions. Your dad won't trust us if was can't control ourselves, and I don't want to test-pilot a deep-space probe for your dad and Dr. Mr. P."

It was genetic: she pulled out the Puppy Dog Pout.

"Sorry, Joss," I grinned, "but space probes override the puppy dog pout."

"Aw, snake muffins."

My turn…

"Besides, with Kim coming, she can help you figure out a way to get the red dress out of your dad," and that got her attention and produced a smile. Then, she lost the smile.

"How am I going to tell her about Momma?"

She stopped me dead in my tracks with that question.

I was speechless, but I started thinking, and you know how dangerous I am when that happens.

"We need to talk to Betty and your dad about what to tell Kim. I don't know what we can and can't tell her," I started, and she nodded agreement, but she looked a little down.

I grinned. "Besides, when she sees the bunker…" and Joss suddenly acquired the Kim-zapping-Bonnie grin, and then she giggled. Then she hit me again:

"What are we going to tell her about us?"

She stood there for a moment, and then she took my hand. "We'll figure it out, Wade," she said quietly, and she squeezed my hand.

Another thought surfaced:

"Tornado?" I called.

"Yes, Master Wade," he responded, and Tornado trotted over to the edge of the corral.

"First: please drop the 'Master,' Tornado," and Joss giggled again. "Second: do you have access to the USGS topographic maps of the ranch and the surrounding area?"

"Yes sir, I do."

"Is there a west-facing cliff area within two miles of our current location?"

"Yes sir, there are three: the first is due north also 0.2 miles, the second is due west of here 0.3 miles, and the final is 0.5 miles northeast."

"Wanna ride, Joss?"

"Does Ron like to cook?" she retorted.

"Tornado: let's go north, option 1," and Tornado jumped the corral fence, came up to us, and knelt. I started to get on and Joss stopped me.

"Wade, how much riding have you done?" she asked.

"Well…" she was sharp, my Jocelyn.

"That's what I thought. You get on behind me and hold on…onto my waist, guy," and she grinned and jumped on Tornado's back and pulled me up behind her. "Let's go, Tornado," she yelled, and we galloped away.

- - - - - - -

Two things:

One: I've got to do something about Joss and her choice of tops, especially if I was going to ride like this. Her skin, it was so soft…

BAD WADE!

Wham!

BAD WADE!

Wham!

BAD WADE!

Wham!

BAD WADE!

Wham!

I had to think about DNAmy to keep from giving Joss any surprises. I'm 13, not dead.

Two: her shampoo: strawberries, with a light spearmint aroma. I could get lost in her hair for days…

BAD WADE!

Wham!

BAD WADE!

Wham!

BAD WADE!

Wham!

BAD WADE!

Wham!

Do you know how hard it is to bang your head and not let the person you're holding onto know that you're doing it?

- - - - - - -

We got to the spot.

It was perfect.

Trees framed the view, and an outcropping overlooked the canyon. I jumped down and offered my hand to Joss. She took the offer (like she needed it!); she put Tornado on silent guard response, with selective filtering so that our conversation wouldn't be recorded (what an animal!) and we walked hand-in-hand over to a natural bench sitting atop the outcropping: a large boulder, framed by the trees.

We sat, holding hands, and watched the sun begin its descent, silently enjoying each other's company.

I had to tell her now, before I lost all of my nerve and my sanity.

"Joss," and she turned and looked at me with an expectancy that I didn't expect.

"Yes, Wade?"

"I have something to tell you, and I don't know how you're going to take it."

"Well…You'll never know until you tell me, will ya?" and she smirked.

I took a deep breath. Ok, here goes:

"Jocelyn Possible, I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you ever since I saw you on the Kimmunicator. Please don't hate me. I don't know what to do about this. I don't know if you just like me or just like kissing me or really like me or what, but I have to tell you before I lose my mind. You're the first thing I think about when I wake up, and you're the last thing that I think about before I go to sleep. You've invaded my dreams, Jocelyn. You're in my mind more than particle physics, and I never knew that something could push it aside. I love you, Jocelyn. Please don't hate me. If you don't love me, I'll try to understand, but I don't know what I'll do with my heart now that it's tasted you. Maybe I can go become a monk. Please don't hate me, Jocelyn. I've never loved anyone like this before, not even Kim. You're so beautiful, Jocelyn, just like your name is beautiful. Kim's pretty, but you're beautiful. I love you, Joss. Please don't hate me."

I must have been talking a mile a minute.

Hey, if you're laughing with me, that's ok. If you're laughing at me, remember what you were like when you were 13 and normal, then try to imagine what it would be like to be 13 and a super-genius. I can out-design the top software architects and designers, I have one PhD and working on the second, but I've never had a date. I've never been in love, not like this, until now….

I had to tell her how I felt before I lost my mind.

As I blurted out my feelings, she looked shocked at first, then she smiled, and then she giggled, and then she looked sad, and then she looked shocked again, and then she smiled again. That's a good sign, isn't it?

She was silent for at least a minute after I rambled all over myself, and then she took my face in her hands and kissed my nose.

"Wade, I'm in love with you, too. I just realized it last night, and I asked Daddy if we could get married, and he said not now, and I told him not to be silly, I didn't mean now." She was smiling real big, now, with that smile from last night that I thought would give a supernova a run for its money.

I would have sworn that I heard angels singing…

I grabbed her and hugged her, and I thought to myself:

'How did I get this lucky?'

- - - - - - -

"Well, now what, Dr. Super-Genius?" she asked me as I let her go. "It's not like we can run off and elope, and you don't exactly live around here year-round, and we're both 14, and...WHAT?" she asked when I cleared my throat.

"Well, I **will** be 14…"

"…and now I'm robbing the cradle." she sighed, and then giggled.

"Hey, I've always liked older women," and she hit me in the arm. "They appreciate us younger guys," and she hit me in the arm again, harder. "OK, I GIVE, I give," and she smiled.

I don't know how I lived or even survived before now without that smile in my life. It was magical, it was enchanting, it was getting darker out here, and there were no streetlights in the wilderness.

"Well, we know one thing that we **can't** tell Kim," I added, and she asked me the most frightening question I'd ever heard:

"Why not?"

- - - - - - -

I was silent. She asked me again.

"Why can't we tell Kim? Daddy and Betty already know how I feel, and I'll just bet that they know how you feel," she stated calmly.

"Well, you have a - WAIT? You told Betty? You told your Dad? They both know how you feel about me?"

"Yea. I told Betty last night when she and Daddy and I talked after you left, and I told Daddy more in the hot tub."

That last statement almost did me in: Joss in a bathing suit…oh, man….it probably didn't matter: since she'd told them, I was likely already dead, or maybe I'd only be mortally wounded before I was stuffed inside the probe.

"Neither of them objected," she continued, and I was able to breath. "I think that they both thought that this was a simple little infatuation that would go away in a few months."

"Joss, marry me when you get out of college," I got down on one knee. "This is no infatuation. I'll wait for you; will you wait for me?"

"Yes, Wade, I'll marry you. And, I'll wait for you as long as you wait for me.

"The question for both of us is the bigger one."

"I'm not changing my mind, Joss."

"Neither am I, Wade, but we have to be prepared in case one of us does."

Silence, then she asked another question:

"So, now, what do we do?"

"Well, hero," I started, and she laughed. "You **are** my hero, I told you that last night."

"And, you are **my** hero, Wade. You didn't have to come here, you didn't have to stay for last night, and you're jumping out of an airplane, what more can I ask?"

She then took my face in her hands, and then she locked me in:

"I have my hero for the rest of my life," she whispered with finality that I hadn't anticipated from her.

Yes, I knew the Bonnie Tyler song, but how do you turn down anyone who tells you that? Especially, when she smells so good and feels so good…

"I love strawberries," I whispered.

"And I **love** chocolate," she whispered back, and we started with our looks that moved almost immediately to smiles then to giggles and then to full-blown falling-on-the-ground laughter.

- - - - - - -

"Should we tell Kim how we feel about each other?" Joss asked when we finally calmed down and got up. Wow, that laughing felt good.

"Don't you think she'll get the hint?"

"Well, Ron knows…"

"Ron knows?" now, she was surprised.

"Well, you kinda branded me last night, and I saw him after last night…" I grinned, and she grinned. "Of course, I kinda told him that it looked like Betty's color…"

"BETTY?"

"Hey, I told you I liked older women, Joss."

"But not old enough to be your **mother**, Oedipus."

"Wow, she reads," I gave her a Shego-esque response.

"Well, D'OY!" and she tossed one back at me.

"And, I think that Rebecca Jane and Arnold might have figured something out."

"Ya think?" she answered back with her own Shego imitation.

"Who doesn't know?" I asked.

"Well, Will Du-"

"Du-Duh? He couldn't get a girl if-"

"He jumped her while she was tied down and unconscious?" she completed the question, and I couldn't help but laugh with her.

She paused, and amp'ed her attitude down several notches.

"Wade?"

"Yes, 'Sweet Tea?'"

"AARGGGHHHH!"

"Sorry.

"You were my first kiss, Wade," she offered quietly.

"You were my first kiss, also, Joss," I admitted to her, and I think she appreciated my honesty.

"Wow."

"Yea…Wow. To quote Ron: You're a bon-diggity kisser, Joss."

"Shall we do another test drive?" and she kissed me again. I really could get used to this.

- - - - - - -

After what seemed like only seconds but were actually several minutes…

"We'd better get back, it's getting real dark," I stated the obvious.

"No problem: Tornado's got radar and headlights."

"But I can't see your smile, Joss."

"Let's go. Tornado?

"Yes, Miss Joss," and he trotted over to us and clicked on his lights (talking horses with lights….hmmmm, a sale or two to mounted police forces around the country? Or to the Royal Family for the palace? Something to think about...).

"Let's go home."

"Very good, Miss Joss," and Joss hopped on and pulled me up, then she gave me a Ron 'serious face.'

"Watch those hands, Mister," she said, "I've got to give you **some** reason to come back to see me," Joss giggled as we galloped back to the main buildings.

'As if I needed a reason to come back,' I thought.

'She loves me, she really loves me. And it's not a movie, Wade, so there's no music coming up in the background. But, there is music…' and I realized the source:

Joss was humming, but I didn't know the song. She was happy, though. It wasn't the Bonnie Tyler song about heroes, but something sounded familiar about it; I think I'd heard it during Christmas in the last few years….

I heard her whisper, "Evil shadows, go find a new life."

- - - - - - -

My Kimmunicator beeped, and I pulled it out. Kim's face popped up clearly: yeah for the new back-lighting I'd added to the Mark 4 handheld.

"Yes, Kim?"

"Wade, I'm here and you're not, and I just found Ron and someone named Rebecca Jane cooking in the kitchen," and I gulped, "So I fed them each a lemon square." Kim just admitted attempted murder over the airways, and with glee; luckily, this was an encrypted link..

"And?"

"Ron said that they were the best thing he'd ever tasted."

"Really?"

"Wade, it's true," Ron's voice came over the speaker, and he wasn't gagging or at gunpoint: my unit measured voice stress levels. 'These are as good as Nana's, if not better. Are you sure you made these, Kim? OWWW!"

Rufus ran into view and gave the lemon squares 2 tiny "thumbs-up" and said "YUM!" That settled it.

"So, now, Wade, 'Who can do anything…but cook?" Kim fired her shot straight at me with a smugness that made Bonnie look chaste and pious, and I conceded.

Sigh. "You can, and cook, Kim," I acknowledged with a mock sullen response. I wanted Kim to succeed, but I wouldn't tell her that.

"'Word up, bro.'"

"So, now you're doing Dr. D?"

"Where are you, Wade? And where's my cousin?"

"Chill, Kim: Joss is with me. We're riding back to the main building. We'll be there in-"

"5 minutes. Hey, Cousin Kim." Joss yelled from in front of me.

"Hi, Joss." She sounded perplexed.

"We're out, ridin' Tornado, Kim,"

"Both of you?" I guess Kim starting to catch on that something was different …after all, she could even cook.

"Yes, both of us, Kim," I replied, and I heard her suck wind.

"Joss, are you still in a tiz-zy?" Rebecca Jane asked, and giggled. I would have loved to see the look that Kim gave her then.

"Not any more, Rebecca Jane. Thanks for the jump lesson this afternoon: that was spankin'!"

"No big, Joss: just following the boss," and she laughed. I knew that Kim was now in multiple knots: for Kim, knowledge was power, and there were things that she didn't know or know about, so she was going crazy.

"We'll tell you when we get there, Kim. Ron, is dinner ready?"

"Will be by the time you get here, Wade."

"Have you seen Slim and/or Betty?"

"They've been in 'conference,'" and I could see Ron doing the 'air quote' move.

"Conference?" Kim was losing it.

"We'll make dinner in 3, Ron," Joss said, and I killed the connection just in time.

Joss laughed all the way back to the house about Kim and control ninjas. I worried about Kim dishing out 16 kinds of Kung-Fu all over my body.

- - - - - - -

Joss solved one problem for me and started our discussion with Kim with the same, single action.

We galloped up to the corral where Kim, Ron, Rufus, and Rebecca Jane were waiting for us. Slim and Betty were nowhere to be seen.

I jumped off Tornado's back, offering my hand to Joss. She took it as she dismounted and then grabbed me and kissed me hard.

As a gentleman, I did the only thing that I could do: I kissed her back.

We separated, and I turned to look at Kim. She had dropped her jaw almost as far as Ron had when I hit him with the Betty 'lipstick' comment last night: her jaw was only about 2 feet below ground.

Then I jumped because Joss had grabbed my butt and pinched it: so much for discussing anything calmly with Kim; she had seen that pinch; more jaw droppage, another foot or so….

"Me like," she whispered, then she ran over to Kim. "Cousin Kim!" she yelled, and she barreled into Kim and hugged her.

Rufus had popped his head out of Ron's pants pocked when we rode up, and he gave me a thumbs-up on the kiss. Rebecca Jane mouthed 'boo-yah.' Ron grinned as he came over to me.

"Well, I guess you two talked," Ron stated matter-of-factly, and grinned even broader.

"Yes, we did," I replied, grinning still.

"And?"

"Kim, I want you to meet my boyfriend, Wade," Joss said as she pulled Kim over to Ron and I. Joss will never cease to amaze me. So much for subtlety.

"B-B-B-B-B-Boyfriend?"

"Kim, you've never stuttered before; that's usually my Sitch," Ron interjected.

"Sue me, Kim: I didn't meet mine in pre-K," Joss shot and scored: nothing but net.

Kim blushed, and Ron chuckled. Evil Wade surfaced for a moment, and I decided to fire a few shots of my own. Here goes…

"What's the matter, Kim? Jelling because **you** didn't get me?" I grinned, and Kim sputtered. "Yeah, I know, you and all your friends wanted the short, dark, and handsome type all along," and Ron almost choked while laughing, and Rebecca Jane just laughed uproariously, and Kim blushed even more: the embarrassment ninjas have struck again.

"Well, sorry, Kim, but he's mine," and Joss put her arm around me and pulled me next to her.

"Wade, you dog," Ron said between laughs, and Joss blushed at that comment. I resisted the urge to return the pinch favor only by a hair.

"Dinner ready?"

"Whoa! I've gotta get back to the burgers. Rebecca Jane, are you coming?" Ron yelled as he ran back into the kitchen, and Rebecca Jane followed at a dead run, leaving Kim and Joss and me out here with Tornado.

"Tornado, go back to the corral, and take the night off," Joss said.

Tornado nodded, said "Good night, Miss Joss, Wade," jumped the corral fence, and trotted into to the barn.

"Wow." Kim said softly for the first time in a long time, it seemed, "talking Tornado," she pondered.

"Kim-" I didn't have a chance to say anything, because Kim grabbed Joss and I and hugged us both.

Now, I was **truly** surprised.

"I'm so happy for the two of you!" Kim said as she released us, then she looked at Joss and grinned. "I'm glad that you didn't wait as long as I did and almost lose out on love," Kim said, then she turned to me and gave me the 'look:' "You know what will happen if you hurt her, Wade: friend or not, I'm going medieval on your rear, so don't make me do it, ever," and she hugged me. "Be good to her, Wade. She's been thru so much," she whispered.

"More than you know, Kim," I replied, and she pulled back and stared at me. Just then, Betty and Slim came out, each holding a lemon square.

"Kimberly Ann!" Slim yelled as his niece saw him and ran to get her hug.

"Uncle Slim!" Kim answered, and then got her next surprise as Betty came and hugged both Kim and Slim.

"Kim, we need to talk to you and Joss and Wade after dinner," Betty said as they separated.

"Great lemon squares, Kim. Has Ron been cooking again?" Slim asked. Joss and I braced for the reaction.

"No, I made them," Kim calmly replied, and Slim and Betty both did a spit-take.

"Not you two, too? Ron gave them an excellent grade, and Rufus gave me two thumbs up."

"Sorry, Kim, but I'd heard about you and boiling water," Betty replied, and I swallowed my laugh as Kim glared at me, but then grinned as she saw me choking on my laugh.

"Let's go and get some grub: Ron's cooking, again. No trout tonight, I'm afraid," Slim said as Betty blushed.

Things were looking up.

Slim offered an arm to both Joss and Kim, and he escorted two redheads to dinner. I offered Betty my arm, and she accepted with a smile and a bit of a blush.

"Watch the hands, mister," Betty said matter-of-factly. "I've seen the files," and she grinned as we went to dinner and I looked around for a really deep hole to jump into. We walked into the dining hall, and Will Du was standing in the room. He looked at Betty and me, and he looked like he's swallowed an entire lemon tree. Now, it was my turn to grin.

- - - - - - -

Ron is amazing.

He not only prepared an excellent dinner, but he somehow knew exactly what size burger and the number of burgers that each person wanted to eat, and how much salad everyone wanted, and he served up 25 individual plates that were, in a word, spectacular. He did all of this while talking to everyone and keeping Kim occupied with PG-rated Ronshine for Kim and G-raged Ronshine for Rebecca Jane.

Rebecca Jane gushed all over Kim, telling her how amazing that she was in everything that she did saving the world, and that Kim had been Rebecca's idol for a long time, and how lucky she was to have a guy like Ron. Kim was grinning more than Duff Killigan would have on the winner's podium at the Masters'.

Joss and her dad were having an animated conversation all during dinner, but it all appeared to be good, because both of them were laughing the entire time.

Betty, Will, Arnold, and I made small talk throughout dinner except for one quick conversation that Betty and I had.

"Wade, Slim and I had a talk with the Security team," and I almost swallowed my face. "We passed along the information from last night's conversation, and they authorized sharing the information with Kim and Ron and Kim's parents. There are some currently ongoing activities, but I'm not at liberty to tell you what they are."

"I understand, Betty."

"Also, I've got to make sure that Kim doesn't do anything about this. Slim and I will reinforce the limits of her actions with her and her parents. I thought you should know," she continued.

"You know Joss loves you, don't you, Wade?" she asked softly.

"She told me tonight, Betty, after I told her that I loved her."

Betty misted up a bit. "Thank you, Wade: you two and Kim and Ron renew my faith in young love.

"Slim told me what he and Joss talked about last night, Wade. As long as you don't hurt her, Wade, you've got a real shot. You hurt her, thought, and-" I finished the statement for her.

"Between Kim and Slim and James, if there's anything left after Joss grinds me into the ground with Tornado…" I grinned, and Betty laughed.

"You understand, Wade."

"After hearing what I heard last night, Betty, I'm never going to do anything to hurt her," I finished honestly.

"Good." She turned to Will, who was picking at his burger like a five-year-old.

"Will, do you like these burgers?" she asked.

"They're adequate, Dr. Director," and Betty did a spit-take as Arnold dumped his drink in Will's lap.

"Dude, you're wet," Arnold observed calmly, and Will sputtered as he stood and tried to dry himself off.

"With your permission, Dr. Director," and she nodded, and Will stormed out of the room.

"Adequate my left-" Arnold was visibly upset.

" Arnold! Please, there are young people present," Betty reminded him, and then she grinned, but not where he could see her.

Dinner was delightful, and Ron surprised us all with dessert: fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate. As he served them to Joss, he winked and said something to her, and Joss blushed as Slim laughed. When he placed my plate in front of me, he winked and said "I heartily approve of **this** combination, Wade." Rufus popped up and gave me a thumbs-up. Betty chuckled.

Ron is amazing.

- - - - - - -

24 hours later, and I was back in the same spot. This time, though, I knew what was going to happen, and I was as ready, physically and emotionally, as I could be. Joss was with me, Betty and Slim sat together, and Kim and Ron sat together, holding hands.

Betty spoke first.

"Kim, Ron, you're covered to hear this under your GJ secrecy agreement. What you are about to hear is still being sifted thru by the Security team, and because of that, you are to take no action on what you hear tonight. Am I clear, Kim? Ron?"

"Yes, Dr. Director," Kim replied.

"I understand."

"Good. Slim, tell us what you told us last night," and Slim went thru his story again. He held up a bit better than last night: maybe it was Betty holding his hand that helped him, but most likely it was because he now knew what was coming.

Joss made it thru Slim's story without incident. Kim and Ron sat and listened, shocked at what they were hearing, just as I had been. I could see Kim starting to tear up, and I could imagine that her insides were being torn apart. Ron was stoic.

When Betty started, I wasn't sure if Joss was going to make it, but she still squeezed my hand at all the same places, and I couldn't help but notice that she was holding up much better than last night. She did break down, however, when Betty said that she saw her dream turn into a nightmare.

I held her for a few minutes and looked over at Ron and Kim: Kim's head was buried in Ron's shoulder, and Ron looked worse than I'd ever seen him, worse than he did when he thought Kim was going to disappear if he didn't complete the Amazon mission to find the flower for its pollen.

Then, Joss lifted her head, wiped her face with her sleeve, and started.

She told the story the same way that she did the previous night: like a three-year-old remembering her own personal nightmare. Her voice was amazingly clear and strong. I held her hand the entire time, and this time I watched Ron and Kim.

When she told us how she tried to wake up Sherri Nicole and couldn't do it, Kim and Ron buried their heads into each other and held each other and wept together. Joss stopped, and I looked at her: she was crying, but not as much as last night.

"Are you ok?" I whispered.

"I'll make it, Wade," she whispered back. "I'm worried about Kim and Ron: that's why I stopped," she amazed me again: she was more worried about other people. "Thank you for being here with me, again, Wade," and she kissed me tenderly. I relished that kiss then, and even to this day, more than almost all of her others till then and since….

She started back when Ron made eye contact with her. He nodded, but he had a look of determination on his face that made me glad that Betty had made them agree to take no action before they heard the Joss' events.

She finished, and Kim and Ron both stood and walked over to Joss. Kim knelt in front of her, tears streaming. She reached up and took Joss' hands in hers.

"Whatever you need, Joss, I'm here for you," Kim said, sincerely.

Ron knelt next to Kim, said nothing but simply nodded and touched the back of Joss' hand in Kim's hand, looked up and smiled.

"Thank you, Ron, Kim, but I have my hero, now," and Joss spoke softly as she turned and looked me square in the eye. "He didn't have to be here, but he's been with me ever since I sent him an email, and he came with me last night when I finally remembered how Momma died," and Kim tried unsuccessfully tried to stifle a sob, and Joss almost lost it then. She stopped for a second, composed herself, and continued: "I'm gonna get through all of this with his help, and we're going to make it work."

"Kim, I'm not giving up working with you, but I'm going to be working with Joss, as well. I hope that you don't have a problem with it," I stated calmly, even though my heart was racing. I couldn't hurt Joss, but I didn't want to hurt a dear friend, either.

Kim smiled. "No big, Wade. I'm just glad you're here for Joss."

"I've heard stories like this before, but they were from my grandparents and their friends who were in the camps," Ron said quietly, and I was not the only one who reacted with shock. We all knew which camps Ron meant.

Ron stood, and he faced Joss and bowed deeply to her. "It has been my honor to hear your story, Jocelyn Possible," he said clearly, "and it will be my honor to do whatever GJ deems appropriate, even if it includes nothing at this time," and he bowed again, and then he knelt again with Kim. Kim took his hand and smiled at him.

"What are we going to do with these young folks, Betty?" Slim had walked over to us, Betty's hand firmly wrapped in his. Kim looked up and got another shock. "No, Kim, it's not what you think. Besides," he grinned, "what would that make Gemini to you?"

Betty looked confused for a moment, and then she grinned as Kim figured it out. "Kim, you'd have an Uncle-Out-Law," and we all laughed as Kim blushed, then laughed.

Betty leaned over to Kim and whispered something in her ear, and Kim turned redder than I'd ever seen her. Ron would have needed the entire Amazon flower population to save her from whatever Betty told her.

Betty stood back up. "No trout snacks tonight," and everyone except Kim laughed. "I'm thinking ice cream. Slim, what'cha got?"

"You name it, we've got it. Remember, I've got twenty-somethings to feed," Slim replied.

"Rocky Road?" Kim perked up.

"I **love** Rocky Road ice cream, Kim," Joss bubbled, "but lately I've been enjoying mine with chocolate," Joss grinned as Betty and Slim laughed, Kim blushed, I winced, and Ron and Rufus both yelled "BOO-YAH!"

"What about you, Wade?" Ron asked, knowing the answer.

I grinned and channeled Slim. "I've had a hankerin' for strawberry lately, Ron," and I waited for Ron to add:

"Wow, Wade, that's my favorite flavor, too! What are the odds?" and Joss and Kim both blushed.

Betty and Slim laughed as they headed for the kitchen freezers.

"Wade?"

"Yes, Kim?"

"You still got some 'splainin' to do, Wade," and she grinned and hugged me. 15 days ago, I would have passed out from that. Now, I enjoyed it, but I was happier with someone else.

"And, Ronnie?" Kim asked, sweetly.

"Yes?"

"What's going on between you and Rebecca Jane?" and Kim gave him 'the look.'

"Nothing, Kim. She didn't tell you there was, did she?" Ron looked worried

"GOTCHA, RON!" and suddenly Kim shifted the look to a big grin and grabbed him and got her 'Ronshine,' PG-13 flavored.

"Let's go get you a big bowl of strawberry ice cream, chipotle-burger-boy," Kim smiled as she took Ron's hand and left the room.

I was left here with Joss,

She turned to face me, and she gasped.

I gave her the same look that she gave me…

I put her face between my hands and pulled her lips to mine.

"I love you, strawberry girl," and I kissed her. Her eyes were big, but then she closed them and relaxed. I was in paradise until-

"OW!"

"'Strawberry girl,' indeed," she remarked as she pinched my butt, again.

"Sorry, Sweet Tea," and I grabbed her hands in a pre-emptive pinch prevention maneuver. "Let's go get you some chocolate," I suggested, and she shook her head.

"I like what I have right here," she whispered and smiled and kissed me.

I could really get used to this.

- - - - - - -

"Hey, Ron!"

"Wade, my man! What's shaking?"

Kim and Joss and Betty and Slim were devouring ice cream, and I'd pulled Ron back into the kitchen.

"I need a favor, Ron."

"What's the Sitch?" and he laughed.

"I need a special lunch for tomorrow…"

"For a special lady, Wade?" and he winked.

"You could say that."

"How special do you want it?"

"Surprise me."

"OOOOOO, this could be fun," and it felt for a moment that Zorpox was preparing the menu. Ron thought, then smiled.

"Wade, I promise you: you won't be disappointed."

"Thanks, Ron."

"So, Wade," he leaned in as he whispered. "'How did you know Joss was the one?'" and he poked me. "Remember when you asked me that?"

"I do, and thanks for not laughing at me, Ron."

"Hey, Wade, if you could deal with me and Algebra and not kill yourself or me, I owe you one. Besides," and he got the 'serious face,' "for as much as you've done for Kim and me in keeping us in gear and keeping us alive and safe, it's the very least that I could have done." He stuck out his hand. "That's what real friends are for, Wade," and I shook his hand.

"Really good friends, Ron. Really good friends don't laugh at a 13-year-old who's never had a date and only left his room fewer than 20 times in his life when he tells you that he's going to Montana to chase an impossible dream."

"But you forget, my friend," and we said it together:

"'Anything's possible for a Possible.'"

"Right, Wade, even Kim falling for a klutzy Jewish kid in Pre-K and sticking by me my whole life."

"Or Joss falling for a big African-American kid her age with a PhD."

"We're two really lucky guys, aren't we, Wade?"

"That we are, Ron. That we are," I reflected.

"Now, I'll have the lunch ready about 11:00 tomorrow morning. Do you have a place picked out for this special lunch?"

I grinned. "Where I told her…."

"BOOYAH!"

"Booyah, indeed. And now, for something completely different tomorrow morning," I said.

"What's than, Wade?"

"Showing Kim the bunker and some new toys," I grinned.

"Can I get a Booyah from the crowd?"

"BOOYAH!"

"Oh, boys?" Joss and Kim called, and that call was definitely **not** the call of trouble.

Booyah, indeed.

What happened that night? Well, it's like they say up here:

What happens in Montana stays under the blanket of snow until after the thaw, and then we wash it away so it can't be found.

- - - - - - -

The next morning I met Joss and Kim and Ron and Arnold and Rebecca Jane for breakfast.

"Good morning, all you lovely ladies: you too, guys. By the way, Arnold, a nice move on Du-Duh last night."

"Thanks, Dr. Load."

"Wade, please."

"Wade. I was sick and tired of Will's 'tude about you and Ron and Kim, and so are a lot of the rest of the people here and most of the GJ trainees. I couldn't resist doing it, even if it costs me a rank in GJ."

"Dude! That is so **not** going to happen," Ron challenged.

"Ron, it could. He is my superior officer while I'm on this training exercise, even thought we are peers, and while what I did is not a court-martial offense, he could still try to have me brought up on charges if he wanted to. I made my decision, though, and I'll live with the consequences."

Wow.

"I'd appreciate it if none of you said anything to Dr. Director about this, though," Arnold continued, "I want to stay with GJ, but I'll do it on my merit."

"Ok, Arnold. You have our word," and we all nodded. Rebecca Jane stood, faced Arnold, and snapped a salute. Arnold stood, returned her salute, and then smiled. They both sat down.

"Kim, are you ready?"

"Ready for what, Wade?"

"You get your first tour of the Bunker. No one other that all of us crazy people who've been putting in the hours on it has seen it yet."

"Wow, I'm honored, Wade," and Kim sounded sincere.

"Part of it is to support what Team Possible does, so my mom can get the house back," I admitted. "When I called Mom the other night, she said that the new flooring was in, and the walls had been painted, and she'd finally gotten the food smell out of my room: I jokingly told her that I wasn't sure if I could sleep in a clean room that didn't smell like burgers and burnt pizza, and she laughed and said that, if it didn't stay clean, I wouldn't have to worry about sleeping there: she had found a nice doghouse that she could order for the backyard."

"OUCH!"

"Indeed. So, my getting all of the hardware out of the house was just in time, it seems, but she did say that I could keep the holoprojectors and 2 server racks and enough equipment for Team Possible at the house for emergencies. She'd talk to me when I got back about what and where I could keep it."

"That sounds fair, Wade."

"Word, Kim," I Dr. D'ed her, and she giggled.

"Ron, do you have the blindfold?"

"Yes, Dr. Wade, I do."

"Please place the blindfold on Miss Kimberly Ann Possible." Ron went to put the blindfold on Kim. "not THERE, Ron!"

"oops, my bad," he grinned, and he put the blindfold over her eyes and stole a kiss.

"Do you have the second blindfold, oh able assistant?"

"Yes, Dr. Wade, I do."

"Please place the blindfold over the eyes of Miss Jocelyn Possible." No chance of mistake, here!

Ron put the blindfold on Joss, and he kissed her cheek.

"Lead the victims to the torture chamber," I intoned.

"Promises, promises," Kim said, and then remembered who had spoken and where she was and did her impression of a fully-cooked beet.

We escorted our blindfolded Possibles into the bunker, down the ramp to the central control arena, and sat them in matching chairs. I used the remotes to turn off all the lights, and then told them to remove their blindfolds. They removed them to see darkness.

"This is where Team Possible started," I said as I used the remote to turn on a projector screen with Kim's first website on it and a couple of picture of her in braces. A growl came out of the darkness.

"Here's where Team Possible is today," and multiple screens snapped on showing newspaper and magazine pictures of Kim and Ron after missions, and faces of the people they'd help, and a couple of shots that neither of then expected to see: Kim during her Drakken-induced disappearing act, and Ron's pants coming down several times: Rebecca Jane asked for copies of those pictures later, but I had to turn her down.

"And, here's the future of Team Possible," and I shut down all of the screens and turned on all of the lights. The banners all said:

WELCOME! to the NEW HOME of TEAM**S** POSSIBLE!

Silence.

"wow," was all Kim could say.

"spankin" was all Joss could say.

"booyah" was all Ron could say.

"good cheese!" came from Rufus. That shot the mood, and everyone laughed.

The screens were still out, and I used the remote to retract them into the walls..

"How did you do all of this, Wade?"

"It wasn't just Wade, Kim," and Betty and Slim came in. Betty continued. "Kim, you've done all that you've done for Global Justice and never asked for a dime in compensation, and this is our way of saying 'Thank You' **without** spending taxpayer dollars: all of the equipment that's here has either been donated by manufacturers and people you've helped or out of the GJ recovery and disposal warehouses, and the space belongs to Slim. Level 2 below contains a fully-equipped R&D facility for Dr. Load and his future teams; there's a fully-equipped gym and a separate workout area on level 3 below, Kim so you can kick to your heart's delight; and the computer room is on level 4 below ground in a hardened facility: if fact, this entire facility **is** a hardened facility. There are also living quarters on the same level as the gym and workout room."

"When Joss told me what she wanted to do," Slim joined in, "I called up Betty and suggested to her that we needed to get our favorite two redheads a little bit of equipment, and this is what she came up with. I already was moving mah labs out of the house, and I just extended the space conversion to accommodate what y'all will need. I had mah 'hired hands' help a bit ('Some bit!' I thought.) I'll move my labs in the second phase to a space that's already being built-out on level 2: as you say, Kim: no big," and Slim chuckled and slapped his knee.

"Besides," Slim added, "I was one of those people you helped, Kim, and I owed you more than a bowl of five-alarm chili.

"You and Joss are going down parallel paths, and it made sense to take advantage of re-usable infrastructure."

"My turn, Slim. Joss, catch," and I tossed her the wrist unit. She clamped it on and pointed at the beams above, then fired the line and rose to one of the steel beams forming the ceiling supports.

"Hair dryer upgrade, Kim," I said as Joss rose in the air. "The rope's been replaced with the latest synthetic; it's 30 times stronger and 30 times lighter than anything that you have now, and it's being incorporated into the new battlesuits. A separate unit can be worn like Joss did: simply clip it under your wrist. I can reverse-engineer it into the hair-dryer if you'd like."

Joss walked the beam expertly, then came down as the line controlled her descent down and started a swing until about 10 feet off the ground where she swung towards the wall, released the line, bounced off the wall, executed a pair of mid-air spins and landing expertly in a crouch, one hand touching the ground fingers pointing down and the other arm out counterbalancing.

"Joss, that was perfect!" Kim was beaming as Joss caught her breath and pulled in the line with the rewind control. Rebecca Jane and Arnold clapped, and Joss turned and curtsied, just like she had done for me the first time: that earned her more applause.

Joss walked over to Kim and handed her the wrist unit.

"Cousin Kim, thanks for inspiring me to be more than I was before. Without you, I wouldn't be standing here," and she reached over and pulled me to her side, "and I certainly wouldn't have my Wade here, either," and she grinned. Her Wade: Ron grinned when he heard her comment.

I handed Joss two more boxes for Kim and Ron, and she handed them each their own box. They ripped them open to reveal:

"The Kimmunicator Mark 4 handheld; the same capabilities are being added to the battlesuits," I told Kim.

"Cool!" was Ron's response. "Did you get the new power-saver quad chip and GPS capabilities added, or did you get Dr. Freeman's upgrades added?"

"Actually, Ron, I got both of them into this upgrade," I replied. Ron was reading the information that I was sending him? Again, with the Ron-style surprises….

Kim was visibly touched by all of this, but she had one burning question:

"So, Joss, what are you planning to do with all of this?" Kim asked. Joss turned to me, kissed my cheek, and turned back to Kim with a big grin.

"Well, Kim, let me tell you…"

- - - - - - -

To my readers:

Remember to jump over to chapter 2 of Blue Eyes, Shining - Intermezzi to learn know the details of what happened after Wade left the room (after the end of Blue Eyes, Shining: chapter 6).

Stay tuned for the final chapter of this story: In the rain.

I can't leave Jocelyn and Dr. Load without completing his request to document the upcoming years and events between now and 'Black Hole Deep, Version 2.0' and beyond, so expect more about my new favorite team (no offense, Kim).

Thanks for hanging with me on this event-filled ride, and please remember to review.


	9. Chapter 9: In the rain

Blue Eyes, Shining

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

To everyone who continues to read and review: danke, arigato, thank you,

It's the final chapter, and it's neither short nor light, so make sure that you have plenty of tissues handy, grab yourself a fresh carton of ice cream and a big spoon (maybe even two spoons, so you can share or have a backup), sit back, relax, and get ready for the ride.

Enjoy! Please read and review.

- - - - - - -

Chapter 9: In the rain

(From the archives and logs of Dr. Wade Load.)

- - - - - - -

"Cousin Kim, thanks for inspiring me to be more than I was before. Without you, I wouldn't be standing here," and she reached over and pulled me to her side, "and I certainly wouldn't have my Wade here, either," and she grinned. Her Wade: Ron grinned when he heard her comment.

Kim was visibly touched by all of this, but she had one burning question:

"So, Joss, what are you planning to do with all of this?" Kim asked. Joss turned to me, kissed my cheek, and turned back to Kim with a big grin.

"Well, Kim, let me tell you," and she picked up the remote and brought up a map of the Pacific Northwest.

"As you may or may not be aware, the entire Pacific Northwest is a major concern area for drug trafficking to and from Canada," and she showed the known drug routes by shading the map, "along with possibility of terrorist movements through the area, given the current border 'sitch.' If you take these issues and add the search and rescue activities required up here during the year in both the US and Canada, there's enough work for a team to stay busy.

"S&R isn't just people, and it isn't just avalanches: earthquakes, fires, floods, mudslides, rustlers, you name it:" and each item was identified with an additional color on the map showing the most recent events, "we've got it to deal with up here. Add to that, the need to train people to be prepared that will have the same impact in Pacific Northwest that you've made in Colorado and other parts of the US, Kim, and there's a 'load' of work to be done."

"Hey!" I gave her my own pout.

"Sorry about the 'load' of work, Wade," and she kissed my cheek, "but I just couldn't resist it. The Montana DCI would kill to have access to the resources that the big cities have, but the Homeland Security funds rightfully go to the locations needing them the most, now; it's not driven by politics anymore. Helena has less of a need than Los Angeles, but the need remains, and sooner or later we've got to close these gaps: we can begin to do that by staffing up and training our team, and use them to provide additional intelligence to Global Justice, the FBI, and the surrounding state agencies."

"wow," was Kim's response.

I came in. "We're not in the super-villain arena, Kim," and Ron and Betty both noticed my choice of pronouns, "That's GJ and Team Possible. There's enough villainy to go around for everybody, and if we can stop some of it before it reaches the super level, we may have a better chance for us and our kids to grow up in a better and safer world than we've experienced.

"Information, tolerance, and understanding are the keys.

"We can't assume that everything that we do is in the best interest of the world, nor can we assume that everyone sees our points of view. 9/11 has taught us that, so we must learn before we can teach.

"The new Team Possible, Kim, must learn before we can teach and act. We will engage in some rescue efforts to start, but Joss and I and the rest of the team need to learn how to survive survival efforts and react in today's conditions. We'll assist the other agencies with information and analysis on the drug trafficking in Montana, to start, and work our way up to missions as we master the skills needed."

"We may not even be a 'Team Possible', Kim; I don't know, yet," Joss concluded. "Like Wade said: we're not you and Ron, and I've learned not to repeat my mistakes," and she grinned at Kim, who caught the reference and grinned back. "Someone wise told me that I need to 'blaze my own trail,' and that's what we're going to do," and Ron and Betty and Kim all caught the change in perspective, and again smiled.

"Looks like some people have been putting a lot of work and thought into this plan," Kim smiled as she spoke. Even their smiles were genetic, so similar were they, but I already knew that.

"Very interesting perspective, Joss, Wade," Rebecca Jane said. "Count me in." and Betty looked surprised for a moment, then thoughtful.

"I **will** need a liaison with this new team," she mused out loud, looking at Rebecca Jane stoically.

"But, of course, that person would have to have successfully completed their GJ training, and be willing and interested in the long-term assignment. I wonder where I could find such a person," and she rubbed her chin with her thumb and forefinger.

Rebecca Jane couldn't stand it any more, and she almost came out of her chair when Betty mentioned that she might have to ask around.

"Ma'am-" and Betty cut her short.

"Yes, Rebecca Jane, you're my choice, so sit back and relax, I was just messing with you," and Rebecca Jane sat back shocked as Betty laughed with her, not at her.

An almost inaudible chirp came from Betty, and she pulled out a handset.

"Go."

Silence

"Now?"

Silence

"Do you want him there?"

Silence

"Give me 3," and she disconnected.

She turned and looked at Slim. "They have more questions, Slim, and they need answers, now. Can we use the videoconference link in your office?"

"'Mi casa,' Betty."

"Thanks, Slim. Come on," and the two of them left right after Betty said, "Go on without us; we'll be awhile."

"Well, why don't Arnold and I take Kim on the tour, Joss?"

"Sounds like a plan to me, Rebecca Jane."

"Kim, this is still a construction site where we're going, so you'll need this," and Rebecca Jane handed her a hard hat. That in itself wasn't the problem:

The construction company colors were green and black, as were their hard hats. Kim held it like it was an anaconda, or a giant black widow. "Riiiggghhhtt," she said, but Ron solved the problem. "KP: it's better than the hairnet that Barkin gave you," and Kim slammed the helmet onto her head.

"Spankin' look, KP: maybe we should get these for all of our missions," Ron said cheerfully.

Kim just growled at him and said "ROONNNN!" Then, she looked at his face.

"Gotcha, KP," and he clicked the camera to capture a picture of Kim, Rebecca Jane, and Arnold all three helmeted, Kim growling and the other two smiling.

"RON!"

"Well, at least you're smiling, now. So, who's up for the tour?"

- - - - - - -

Ron made sure that Rebecca Jane and Arnold took Kim out of the room, then went over to Joss and whispered something to her; she blushed, came over to me and whispered "I'll be back in 15 minutes," kissed my cheek and walked out. Ron came over after she left.

"What did you say to her, Ron?" I inquired.

"I just told her that her 'man' had a surprise for her and she needed to go and change for an outdoor 'affair,'" and Ron grinned.

"But I never told you where."

"Talking horse, Wade, remember?" Ron replied. "I asked Tornado, he told me, and he took me out there already. Everything's set up, and the food basket will be waiting by the corral for you; I've already worked out a harness for Tornado."

"Did you get the items that I asked you about after our 'O-BOYZ' call last night?

"'Those words hurt,' Wade," Ron did a perfect Dr. D., then grinned again. "Yellow and red, just as you asked. Your table is prepared and waiting, monsieur," and Ron gave me an exaggerated bow.

"Danke, Ron," I replied with a bow of my own.

"Wade?"

"Yeah, Ron?"

"How'd you get so lady-savvy?"

"Dad trained me well; I just had to watch how he treated Mom."

"Wow. She's a lucky lady, Wade."

"No, Ron, Dad tells me all the time how lucky he is, and now I'm beginning to understand what he means."

"Get out of here, and go enjoy your lunch," and Ron shooed me out of the bunker. "I've got to go and catch up with the tour before Kim goes medieval on Arnold."

- - - - - - -

I got to Tornado before Joss came out, and I strapped the basket to Tornado's side (I love robot horses: no need for feed…), and I sat and waited for Joss. She didn't disappoint me.

Now I knew why she looked happy to see her dad leave with Betty.

She came out in a shirt that would have made Tara jealous: pure working cowgirl and fashionable, pure comfort, pure joy, at least for me.

She wore a pair of jeans that were perfect for her and the shirt, and she had on her red boots, again.

I almost forgot the hat: she was, after all, a working cowgirl. And her face….

She came over and smiled, then twirled. "You like?" Only she could pull that off in jeans….

"Joss, you could wear a potato sack and I'd like," I answered honestly.

"Flatterer," and she brushed my cheek. "What's Tornado doing here?"

"It's a surprise," and I produced the blindfold from earlier, and covered her eyes. I pushed her towards Tornado, and she mounted him. I got on, and told Tornado: "Tornado, Wade 1."

"Yes, Wade," and we took off at a comfortable trot. Did I mention that I loved robot horses?

Good news: Joss was not wearing a crop top.

Bad news: this was worse than a crop top: tight, silky….

BAD WADE!

No banging the head this time; I just grinned as we rode and Joss hummed. I wished that I could remember that song….

- - - - - - -

We arrived, and I grinned:

'Ron **is** all that, Dr D,' I thought.

He had somehow (Mystical Monkey Power, most likely) positioned a flat-top boulder as a table in front of the natural bench framed by the trees; our backs would be to the canyon, this time. A vase of long-stemmed yellow roses sat on the tabletop, and red rose petals led up to one side of the table. A champagne stand was next to the table on the other side, and a bottle sat, chilling, in the bucket. Plates, silverware, champagne flutes, and water glasses accompanied the table setting.

I jumped down and reached up to Joss' hand to help her down (she was good: she had not tried to remove the blindfold, although I'd heard about it in mumbling as we got closer to the spot), and I guided her to the bench and sat her down, telling her to leave the blindfold on. I got the basket from Tornado and placed it on the ground next to the table where I would sit. Then, I sat..

"Ok, you can take off the blindfold, Joss."

"It's about time, Wade. What in the world were you trying-" and she stopped as she pulled the blindfold off and looked at the table. Her face was pure surprise, pure shock, and pure joy.

"Wade, when-" and she turned to me and saw the long-stemmed red rose that I had in my hand. I smiled.

"What is this?"

"Gee, it looks like a rose, Jocelyn," and I handed it to her. "Although," I added, "it's a tough room for a rose."

"Why?"

"Because you are here, oh tea so sweet," I replied, and I handed her the rose; she turned redder than the rose.

"When-" and I stopped her.

"Less talk, more lunch," I interjected as I stood and lifted the basket to the table. She squealed with glee.

"Let's see what chef Ron packed," and I opened it and pulled out the first packages, and I laughed.

"What's so funny?" and I showed her the label on the package: Peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches for two, crust trimmed.

"RON!"

"Channeling Kim, I see," I remarked as I put the package down and reached in for the next package. The package was still quite warm, and I wondered if Ron had managed to do it….

I opened the container, and the sweet smell of Mexican spices assaulted the forest air. Ron had indeed done it. Joss sniffed, and smiled. "What is that?"

"Ron has delivered the ultimate luncheon meal: Ron's original recipe 'Nacos,' not the watered-down recipe that Bueno Nacho sells, but the adult version with the chipotles and the full range of spices."

"It smells wonderful," she replied, and then she pulled me back down and kissed me like she'd never kissed me before (before you ask, it was all 'G:' we were 13 and 14 then, remember!).

When she came up for air, I asked, "What was that for?"

"All this," and she waved her hand. "Why?"

"After two nights that you've had, you deserve a good memory on the third day," I replied, and she grabbed me and kissed me again.

Breathing time again, and she sniffled back a tear. "No one's ever done anything like this for me before, Wade; thank you. This is a first for me."

"First what, Joss?"

"No one's ever bought me flowers, no one ever gave me roses, and no one's ever given me a personal picnic. How did you know?"

"I didn't, until now. You deserve this, Joss; just enjoy it and try not to over-think it; believe me, that thinking thing is sometime way overrated," I replied, and I managed to serve her a Naco onto a plate before she kissed me again.

When she came up for air again, she asked me. "Wade, how did I get this lucky? How was I this lucky to find you at this time in my life?"

"Positive-chi ninjas?" I offered, and she punched my arm. "Go ahead, each your Naco before it gets cold: trust me, they're ok cold, but they're magnificent hot," and she grabbed a fork, acquired a hunk-o-naco, and delivered it to her mouth. With each and every chew, her face got happier.

"Wow! This is wonderful! Ron created this?" She asked as I added Ron's homemade Diablo sauce to my Naco, and I offered the sauce container to Joss. She took it and placed a generous spoonful on her Naco, then took another bite. "Even better," and she scooped another spoonful on top.

"And sold it to Bueno Nacho," I added, "that's why he has the trust fund."

"Trust fund?"

"He got his first royalty check and lost it in about four weeks, so now the money goes directly into his trust fund for college and afterwards."

"Wow, he doesn't act pretentious."

"Someone's been using their dictionary, I see," I smirked, and she swatted at me.

"I'm no dumb redhead, Wade," she retorted. "I've just never had a reason to concentrate in school; well, not until now," she smiled and brushed my lips. "I've got to keep up with you, now," she continued as she took another bite. "Wow, this is better than anything I've tasted around her in the restaurants."

"Drink?" and I pulled the bottle out of the champagne bucket.

"WADE! I don't drink!"

"You'll like this," I replied with a grin as I unscrewed the top and poured her a glass, then poured mine. Then, I showed her the label.

"WADE! That's not wine!"

"I never said it was alcohol," as I put the sparkling grape juice back into the bucket.

"Ron's trust fund?" she asked, and I knew what she was asking.

"I can't tell you that," and she brought out the puppy dog pout. "Though I can tell you that his original check for royalties was less than his fund is now."

"…and that was..?"

"US Ninety-nine million dollars," and she shot Naco almost to Tornado.

"wow," and I dabbed her mouth for her. Such a lovely mouth….

"Ron does that to people," I grinned. "Hopefully, that wasn't because the Naco was bad," I added.

"Ron has…does Kim know?"

"She knew about the original check; she knows that his money is going to his trust, but she doesn't know, that I'm aware of, unless Ron has told her himself. He learned pretty fast what money does to some people, and he's determined not to let that happen again. That, and his dad made a deal with Bueno Nacho to have his funds directed to the trust account."

"Some dad," she said as she chewed her final bite.

"Another?" and I motioned to the covered dish.

"No, I want to see what the chef did for dessert," and she sipped her sparkling juice.

"Let's see, and hope it's not the PB&J he packed," I commented, and she giggled. I kissed her cheek, and then I reached turned back to reach into the basket.

"What'd you do that for, Wade?" I stopped, and turned back to face her.

"Because I wanted to, and because I love it when you giggle. You're like me in some ways: we both have had to bridge adult worlds and the world that our bodies have us in. When you giggle, it reminds me of the world that my body is in and not the world of my mind."

"Wow, Wade, I'd not thought about how hard it must be for you, sometimes. I just thought it was my problem, and no one else had it."

"Jocelyn, you are definitely not alone: there are a lot of kids like us that bridge the two worlds. Unfortunately, many of them can't deal with the pressure, and they take another route." I knew what road she was about to take, and I wished and prayed that she wouldn't take it.

"What route is that, Wade?" The road traveled, far too often.

I got a lot quieter, and I reached over and took her hand. "They take their own lives, Joss. That's how I lost my best friend at college," and she squeezed my hand, then pulled me to her and hugged me.

I lost it, then, and with her hug all of the tears that I'd been holding in all these years came pouring out. I sobbed like I hadn't since after I left the morgue with my parents after identifying the body, that night.

After a few minutes, she lifted my head from her shoulder, kissed my lips tenderly, took my face in her hands, and looked me squarely in the eyes, "You've got to tell the story, Wade, but not now. You've been holding it in for far too long, haven't you?" and I nodded. "I thought so. I recognize it, Wade, because I've seen it in the mirror for far too long, myself. You loved her, didn't you?" and my eyes got big, "and that's why you were worried about me, isn't it? You were worried that you saw something in me that reminded me of her? How old were you when this happened?"

"Nine," I managed, barely, to get that word out of my mouth.

"Wade, I'll not pretend to know what you've been through, but I'll tell you what you've been telling me ever since you got here: we'll make it work. With what you've done for me, Wade my love, I won't leave you like she did. I'll never pretend to know what caused her to leave, Wade, but you saved me, Wade." And she hugged me once more and let me drain my tears away.

"Jocelyn, how did you do it?"

"Do what, Wade?"

"Capture my heart?"

She grinned. "Military secret, Wade: If I tell you…" and I completed the sentence.

"…you'll have to kill me?" and I grinned.

"That's better, my Wade," and she brushed my lips. "I like you all the time, but especially when I see that smile or grin."

"'Thank you,' Joss."

"For what?"

"I guess I had a demon or two to bury, just like you," and I reached into the picnic basket. "Let's see what Ron has for dessert," I tried again, and pulled out two containers. I peeked inside the first, and I gave her a huge grin. "You'll never guess," I said.

"Peach cobbler?"

"No."

"Banana puddin'?"

"Sweet tooth, 'Sweet Tea,'" and I dodged her hand. "Neither: close your eyes," and she complied. I pulled out some dessert and placed it on her lips. "Now, open your mouth," and I held it there as she bit into it.

"Oooo, Ron gave me some more 'Wadeshine,'" and I gasped as she pulled the blindfold off and took the chocolate-covered strawberry from my hand and finished it off.

"What? That's what Ron told me they were last night, when he leaned over and told me," and she giggled and grabbed the container. "That's why I blushed when he said it. Now, none for you, mister strawberry-holic," and she pulled another from the container and bit into it.

"Fine," and I kissed her hand. "I'd rather have the original, anyway," and I reached up, took the dessert from her, and kissed her.

"Besides, you'll miss the best dessert of all," and I opened a second container.

"Strawberry-topped flan," and I fed her a bite.

"OOOO, now that's dee-lish," she grinned, and took that fork and container away, as well.

"No dessert for poor Wade?" I pouted, and she gave me "the look."

"Oh, but there is, my Wade," and we kissed for I don't know how long. I liked dessert.

- - - - - - -

"So, what were you saying about school before, oh no-so-dumb-strawberry-goddess?"

"Oooo, can I get a bumper sticker of that to put on Tornado?"

"AHEM!"

"Sorry, big guy." and Tornado snorted.

"I've just never had a reason to concentrate in school; well, not until now," she repeated. "I told Daddy last night that I was changing things a bit starting this school year, and I'm going to start by changing to the courses that I won't just skate thru. I figure: if I hit any roadblocks," and she smiled, "I've got the perfect tutor to call and get help from. How's that sound?"

"'Brilliant!'"

"Lay off the commercials, Wade, before they rot your brain."

"Can't happen, Joss?"

"And, why not?"

"Because, my dear, you've already corrupted my brain and my heart beyond repair," and I stole a kiss.

"Me like!"

"What?"

"That's the first time you've ever called me 'my dear.'"

"Why should I waste my time with the euphemisms, when the original is so much better, Jocelyn?

"Oooo, that's sweet?"

"You'd know sweet…"

"DON'T. SAY. IT."

"'Sweet Tea,'" and I grinned.

"I'm a'gonna kill Daddy," she mumbled.

"And, you promised him you were going to do better in school?"

"No; I'm promising **you, **my strawberry-holic tutor," and I got another hug. I could really, really get used to this.

- - - - - - -

On day 17, we ran the final tests of the networks, hardware, connectivity, and the applications. We also completed our final test of the live move of Kim's website over to the new server site here. Only us pure techno-geeks would be interested in the details; suffice it to say, the move was successful after 2 aborted attempts, but the failures were on this end so there was no site down-time.

- - - - - - -

On day 18 at 4:00 AM MDT, Kim threw the ceremonial switch, and her site moved in milliseconds to being hosted and totally supported from the bunker. At 4:45 Am MDT, Joss threw the next switch, and the bunker became fully operational. We had some sparkling grape juice to toast the event, and I didn't see either Ron or Kim until about 5:15 that evening: Ron later told me that he was getting some serious PG-13 Kimshine in their hot tub, and he took advantage of the bench and table that remained at the site to serve Kim a lunch to remember. He looked glazed most of the evening; something about Kim, a two-piece white bikini, and her red hair….

- - - - - - -

On day 19 at 4:00 AM MDT, Betty was on hand with Slim and threw the ceremonial switch, and GJ was now in the network (or, were we in theirs? It depended on who you asked). We'd been certified by their GJ-IT as secure, and they only used specific ports to enter/exit the network (I'd tell you, but …you know the drill), so Betty and her team were comfortable with us interconnecting. Rebecca Jane was there, as well: Kim had now gotten over her jellin' phase, and was happy to see Rebecca Jane (Kim had to explain to Joss why she did not want to be called Becky, and I got in more than my share of 'strawberry' jokes over the next two days after the blushing fit that Joss had!).

- - - - - - -

Arnold had been working with us to schedule more jump training, so he came up later in the day, and we finalized the schedule for the next 3 weeks.

- - - - - - -

Probably the most 'fun' that I had was initially contacting the Montana DCI, on Day 19. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best way to introduce oneself: hacking into their systems and sending the email to the director with my location and an offer to give her a tour of the facilities. Slim told me later that the director was, as he described it, 'a mite miffed' at me, but one call to Betty from the center with the agents that had taken me up on the visitation offer and Betty conferencing in both the DCI Director and the Montana AG, and she nipped that in the bud (she also got me to promise her that I would **NEVER** introduce myself that way again, sealing it by 'promising' to tell Joss about the battlesuit fittings if I repeated the action: positive reinforcement, indeed.) The AG bowed off on the tour offer, but the DCI later took us up on the offer on a later date, and she came away quite pleased (especially when she was able to meet both Betty and Will Du: it seems that she was a fan of Du-Duh. I guess anything was Possible….)

- - - - - - -

On the night of day 20, Ron took over the kitchen and made dinner for us, and he also began his preparations for the all-day construction completion party on Day 21. Betty had flown back up earlier in the day, and she and Joss went fishing again, the result being another trout-fest. Betty broke up when I started the music, and Slim had to explain to Joss what the 'Trout Quintet' was. Ron knew: I was no longer surprised at what Ron could do or at what Ron knew.

The next day, Day 21, we held an all-day party. Betty had all of the trainees that had worked with us flown in that morning, so they started the morning with a Ron-shine breakfast. Slim had all of his interns there, as well, including most of the ones who had left years before and came back for a day or two to work with us: it seems that Slim has developed quite an 'alumni association,' and they all keep in contact.

The biggest surprise for me was Mr. and Mrs. Dr. P showing up at breakfast: he looked more relaxed than I'd seen him in months, and she looked even more lovely than normal. It only took me 2 minutes to figure it out: the tweebs were with Nana Possible in Colorado (she came up for some cool weather and got Colorado summer heat of 100: go figure), and Kim had surreptitiously told Nana P. where the two mind-control chips were 'for the times when they got a bit lively,' as only Nana P. could describe them.

Slim opened up his "swimmin' hole" to everybody, and there were OLD PEOPLE (well, some of them were over 30!) swinging from tire swings and screaming as they dropped into the water.

After breakfast was the first real chance that I had to talk, with Joss, Betty, and Slim, to Mr/Mrs. Dr. P (I still hadn't gotten to the point that I could call them James and Anne). Joss and I told them what we were doing and what we had planned for the next 6-10 years. Mr. Dr. P smiled and mumbled something about being bummed that he would not be able to threaten me with a black hole probe since I probably could counter-program it and send the black hole back to his house, but he took it much better than I thought he would; he did, however, offer to Slim to threaten me by proxy if I needed it. I confirmed my suspicion that he and Slim had been talking frequently while I was here, and Kim and Ron had discussed us with him, as well: I owed them something for that; something positive, that is.

Lunch was Ron's sandwich buffet, and the soon-to-be-trainee-graduates almost killed themselves with a feeding frenzy. Even Rufus was impressed with their ability to consume cheese. They all headed back to the river, to the bunker swimming pool, or to the gym: there was a block breaking exhibition/contest ongoing, and the leader had broken 10 by this time. Ron finally won it with 15, Kim came in second with 13, and Rebecca Jane came in a surprising third with 12.

The dinner banquet was another Ronfeast, only this time he didn't rely on Betty's fishing abilities and had had a planeload of fresh trout flown in the night before. Ron served it up grilled, pan-sautéed, blackened, or fried: it seemed that if you could name it, trout was prepared that way. It must have been every cat's dream come true, just to stand downwind of the buffet and get the aroma of freshly-cooked trout coming from the serving lines.

My mind was on the trout until Joss came in the door.

Resplendent was an understatement, as was her attire, but…

She wore a simple black outfit (no, not the LBD: that came much later): a below-knee length skirt with no hint of a slit in it, and a button-down blouse and what had to be 1-inch heels. She wore a small green scarf around her neck.

This was no cowgirl. She stopped traffic throughout Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming that night.

She walked over to me and kissed me, and the hoots and yells started as I kissed her back.

Mr. Dr. P almost had a heart attack, and Kim punched him and whispered something to him: it must have been good, because he blushed and stammered a reply to her. Mrs. Dr. P beamed. Kim was smiling, and Ron was grinning at me wickedly. I didn't see any of this: Ron told me what happened, later. For some reason, I was distracted.

"You look good enough to eat, Wade," Joss stated when we unlocked lips.

"You don't look half bad yourself, Joss. Green and black: are you channeling Shego tonight?" and she punched me. That started up the catcalls again.

I offered her my arm and escorted her to the serving line.

- - - - - - -

After dinner, Slim stood up and thanked everyone for "workin' real hard, even on the weekends" and told them that there was a "littl' sumpin' extra" waiting for them on the way out.

Joss stood up and thanked everyone for their time and patience and for "puttin' up with me while Ah lost mah mind and temper sometimes." That earned her a bigger round of applause that Slim's "littl' sumpin." She did promise to thank each of them personally (that got a round of whistles from the younger agents in the 'cheap seats' and a big blush from Joss, but she put a Betty-esque look on her face and replied, "Sorry, guys, not **even** in your dreams." Then she smiled and added, "Besides, Ah'm 'jail bait' with a brown belt in karate, a lasso, and a whip: you **don't** want a piece of me," and that started it up all over again, this time even louder, and fed the even-redder blushes. She mumbled thank you and decided to sit down quickly before she dug herself an even deeper hole.

Kim stood up, and they all got real quiet real fast. She thanked Ron and told everyone that they were now officially a couple: that got some friendly boos from the cheap seats and a blush from Kim. She then thanked them all and told them that she and Ron had added a little something to their thank-you collection from Slim, and all of the friendly boos quickly turned to cheers. She motioned for Betty to stand up, and she hugged her and thanked her: that got a very loud and raucous round of cheers and applause for Betty's recognition. She did the same for Slim, and the applause and cheers were just even louder.

She then announced that the Kim Possible website was being renamed the Team Possible website to properly reflect the contributions of the entire team. She motioned for Ron to come up on the stage, and thanked him in a way that had Mr. Dr. P looking for a remote control to the deep space probes that he kept on hot-standby; her thanks gathered another round of hoots and hollers from her fans in the cheap seats. Then she motioned for me to stand, and she walked over to me.

"Ladies and Gentlemen: For those of you that don't know, this is Dr. Wade Load. He is the person who created my website and has been running it for me since I took my first mission. What many of you don't know is that he has also been my "Q," providing me with the tools that I've used on my missions and the intelligence when I needed it 24/7/365. He's never asked me for anything, and all I've ever done was say 'please, and thank you' to him as payment for his help. Without him, I'd likely not have returned alive from several missions, including the Diablos," and I heard her choke back for a minute.

I couldn't see because there was something in my eye.

"But, tonight, I'm publicly acknowledging that Dr. Load has been and always will be a valuable member of Team Possible. He hasn't been on many missions, but he and Ron have saved me countless times. Wade, even more importantly, you've been my friend: well, except for hacking into my on-line diary incident," and she grinned as the laughs re-appeared, and I looked around on for a transport tube, "'but that's not important,'" and I winced at her inside joke, and she winked. Then, she smiled and put her arm around my shoulders.

"Wade, thank you for being on the team, and thank you even more for being the best genius friend a girl could ever have," and she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. That got a loud round of applause.

Ron came over, shook my hand, and gave me a big hug. The applause got even bigger.

Then, Joss stood up again and walked over to Kim and Ron and me, and the applause began to die down.

"Wade came up here weeks ago because I asked him for a littl' help, and this is what I got for his definition of 'a little help'" and some laughs and applause came over the quiet as she motioned around, "and I got all of y'all as friends, to boot," and the applause grew. She waited for it to die back down before she continued. "He's also gonna be workin' with me on our new opportunity to help people. Now you know what he's done, and what he can do when he sets his mind to help ya." She grinned and gave me 'the look' again. "Sorry, Kim, but you'll have to share from now on," and she kissed me, and not on the cheek. Kim laughed and started to applaud. Ron joined her, and Joss and I got the loudest cheers and applause of the evening.

I wasn't really paying any attention to the background noise:

I was holding and kissing my hero.

- - - - - - -

Dinner the night before I left, weeks after the completion party, was bittersweet for me: Joss, Betty, Slim, and I had pizza and drinks outside because we were all tired of being indoors.

Betty had returned to Middleton after meeting with the Montana DCI, and remained there until today: she flew up to take me back to Middleton.

The sun was heading down, but there was still enough light for us to see one another. We were alone for the first time in weeks, it seemed, and the first time since that horrific night. Slim was enjoying a longneck, Betty had her white wine, and Joss had become hooked on sparkling grape juice: I commented that, perhaps, my actions had made me an enabler, and Slim snorted.

"Well, Wade, What'ya think about your time with us in Montana?" Slim asked with a grin.

"Well, Slim," I grinned, "First, I never thought I'd be calling you Slim before I came up here," I answered honestly, and he chuckled.

"And, I definitely never considered calling you anything but Dr. Director before this time, Betty," and I smiled at her. I'd grown a lot since being here, and I had Betty's respect even more now than before for my expertise and expanded ability not to make a total of myself on a regular basis. My respect for her had deepened greatly, but she was still the GJ Director.

I was glad that I had a picture of her in that red dress, though, and I grinned inwardly.

"And, before y'all had to deal with Dr. D," and Joss laughed because I'd picked up "y'all" from her and now had to concentrate not to use it, "I certainly did not know what I was missing in Montana," and grinned at Joss as she blushed and Betty and Slim smiled.

"I certainly didn't expect to inherit the job of on-call tutor," and Slim and Betty both looked confused. I looked at Joss: "Didn't you tell them?"

"Well…."

Silence

"Not yet." And I banged my head against the air, and Betty chuckled.

"Daddy, you remember that night when we talked about me and college? Well, I've changed my freshman course load up a bit," and she pulled out a piece of well-worn paper and handed it to Slim. He and Betty looked at it, got a shocked look on their face, then smiled and looked at Joss.

"Are you sure about this, Sweet Tea?" Slim asked. "This looks like a 'load' for anyone, and you've haven't exactly been pushing yourself these last few years." I winced at his pun.

"I'm sure, Daddy. And, I'm not doing it for Wade or you: I'm doing it because I need to do it, it's about time I pulled my head out, and," she paused for a moment, then spoke quieter, "I'm doing it so I kin make Momma proud of me," and she surprised me by not breaking down. This was the first time that I'd heard her mention Sheri Nicole without sobbing.

I took her hand. "It's looks like those demons may have been caged, Joss, and your wounds are healing over nicely," and she squeezed my hand in reply.

"Slim, what about yours?" Betty asked.

"The scabs are back, and they're not coming off now that I've been through what we've experienced."

"I'm glad, Slim," and Betty leaned over and kissed Slim.

"I wish you'd have met Sheri Nicole, Wade: She'd have liked you a whole bunch," Slim offered.

"I wish the same thing, Wade. Momma would'a loved you," and Joss squeezed my hand.

"I wanted you to like me before I came here, Joss. I knew how I felt, but I had no idea how you felt or would feel about me."

"I couldn'ta told you before you came, Wade, because I didn't know how I felt, myself, until after that night. I buried demons that night, and I planted my sturdy redwood beside them. It seems like a good trade, now," she grinned, and then she said it again:

"I love you, Dr. Load."

"And, I love you, Miss Possible," and I kissed her.

"Get a room, you two," came from Slim.

"Don't encourage them," came from Betty.

"Don't worry," came from Joss. "My hero's worth the wait," and she kissed me.

"All in all, Slim, I think it's been a pretty good trip," I added, and I was showered with sparkling grape juice.

And, of course, it started to sprinkle; in 30 minutes, it had turned into a downpour, and I was glad that we'd gone inside when we did.

- - - - - - -

My last day on the ranch, and it was accompanied by a nice loud thunderstorm last night. Well, at least the storm part was gone, but the heavy rains remained..

I never thought that I wound regret my last day here:

My last day with Tornado.

My last day with Joss, at least for awhile.

No more hourly kisses….

I closed my suitcase and backpack, looked around my room one last time, and pulled on my raincoat: the downpour still hadn't stopped.

I walked out of the room, looked back to gather my memories up and zip them into my backpack, and closed the door one last time.

- - - - - - -

I thought as I walked down the hall:

My room.

Montana.

Joss.

Sheri Nicole.

Slim.

Betty.

Tornado.

Kim.

Ron.

Rebecca Jane.

Arnold.

My paradigm had changed considerably in a few short weeks, and it was continuing to change. I knew that I had to get back and finish my dissertation, but it didn't seem as important to me as it had a few weeks ago.

Kim and Ron weren't the center of my universe, anymore, and neither were Mom and Dad. I wondered if that had really sunk in on Kim and Ron, yet: I was just barely beginning to understand all of the impacts of my decision. I still had to figure out what and how to tell Mom and Dad….

- - - - - - -

Slim met me at the end of the hall, and motioned for me to put my stuff down. I did, and I followed him into his study. He closed the door, turned, and he was smiling through his tears.

"Wade," he said, and then he hugged me.

Now, that was not what I expected.

"Wade, you gave me Sheri Nicole by giving me my daughter back. I couldn't reach her: I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't break thru the walls. You steamrollered them into dust that I've now swept out the door.

"I knew that you were coming to help Jocelyn, but I had no idea, even in my wildest dreams, that this was what your help would turn into."

"Slim, believe me, I didn't, either," I replied, and he laughed.

"It's those Possible women, Wade: they get us guys every time, and Sheri Nicole wasn't even a Possible woman by birth," he answered, and we both laughed. Then, he sat and motioned for me to do the same.

"Wade, I'll tell you what I told Jocelyn:

"I'd never considered you and my daughter seriously getting together; I thought she was having another infatuation, like the one she had on Ron. Y'all might likely have some problems as your relationship grows because not everyone is ready for you two, but you're likely a lot more aware of that than I am," and I nodded.

"I'll tell you what I think right now: If you and my daughter do stay together, I'll give her to you proudly, because a young gentleman has won my daughter's heart.

"I may still need to borrow some of Squirt's deep space probes, just in case," and Slim grinned and I winced, "but I don't think I'll need them. You're a fine young man, Dr. Wade Load, and if and when you decide that Jocelyn is the one, I'll gladly place her hand in yours."

Joss' telling me, and my hearing it from Slim myself were two distinctly different events: here was a father telling me that he trusted me with his daughter.

"Dr. Possible, you can trust me. I appreciate the gift that you've offered to me, and I promise that, when the time is right, I'll be back to ask you proper."

"Your daddy and momma have raised a good son, Wade; I'm looking forward to being able to tell them that, someday," and Slim stood and stuck out his hand, and I stood and shook his hand.

"Be good to her, son," and his voice cracked, but only a little bit. "She's all I have left," and then he grinned and pointed to the outside.

"Let's get you home before the frogs start hitch-hikin' to Canada and the jack rabbits start building arks," he laughed as we left his study and headed outdoors towards the one person that I longed to see and dreaded seeing.

- - - - - - -

She stood there, staring at the jet, just like a good, strong, stoic soldier, but I could tell that she was as conflicted as I:

Part of me wanted to stay here forever.

Another part of me wanted to pick her up, toss her in the plane, and fly away with her.

That evil, nasty rational part of me won: I had to get back to work on my dissertation, and my old regular life. But that live was now so changed….

I'd be leaving my room at home more often, now: boy, won't Mom and Dad be surprised!

"Joss," I started, and that was as far as I got. She turned, and ran right into me.

She wouldn't let me go, but her hug felt so right.

'Did I really have to leave?' that one part of me asked, again.

She pulled away from me, and her eyes were red from a great deal of crying.

"I'm not going away permanently, Jocelyn," I tried to help.

"I know, Wade.

"Part of me wants you to stay here forever.

"Another part of me wants us to leave, right now, and never come back here again. We'll be together, forever, and that's the way it should be.

"But, my heart is telling me that you have to leave. But, it hurts, Wade, it huuurrrrrtttttts," and she started sobbing again and fell back into my arms.

'I know how you feel, my love, but I can't tell you that.' That thought rattled throughout my mind.

"Joss, we've been apart 13+ years; a few more won't hurt us nearly as bad because we know where the other one is; we didn't know who or where the other was, before."

"Won't you miss me, Wade?" and she looked up at me, and I couldn't take that sadness for much longer.

"Of course I will, Joss, but we have each other. Together, we can do anything, even make it thru our first time apart.

"I want to stay, and I want to take you away from all of this, but I know that neither option will work for us. We still have so much to learn, about the world, about each other, about life: We can't throw those times."

"Do me a favor, Wade," and she got 'the look.'

"Anything, Sweet Tea."

"Make a battlesuit for me, Wade: I know you've got the measurements," and she looked up at me and grinned thru her tears as I tried to dig myself a foxhole in the mud. "Betty told me, and she told Kim, and Kim's not mad at you: she's actually flattered, and she's also just a bit embarrassed."

Betty and I would have an interesting talk on the way home. Oh, boy….

Kim and I would have one when I got home. Oh, man….

"And, I'm not mad, either, Wade," she kept grinning. "I was, at first, when Betty told me what you did, but I realized when you collected the measurements when Betty told me how you'd done it, and I thought I would be in unique company. And, the fact that you did it showed me and them both how much you loved all of us: to risk your friendship to help keep us safe. Besides," and she got the look, "just think of what you have to look forward to as I get older since you've got those measurements, now," and she reached up and kissed me quickly. "Oh, strawberry-addicted boy," and she grinned even bigger.

"Well, now," I was finally to breath, "that was a surprise parting gift."

"Well, here's another," and she kissed me again, moved my hand down to her rear, and squeezed my hand. Her other hand was doing the same thing to me.

"Oooo, and I see that someone else liked it," she said when we separated, and she giggled. I was glad she couldn't read my blushing.

"Thank you, Wade. For everything," and she brushed my lips a final time, and ran back under the covered walkway into the arms of her dad. Betty came walking out from under the walkway, helmet already on and her visor up.

"Ready, Wade?"

"I'm ready, Betty," and I tossed my bags into the plane, scrambled into the rear seat, strapped myself in, and picked up my helmet.

Before I put it on, I looked out to Joss and waved.

She waved back, and she and her dad turned and walked back into the house.

I put my helmet on, and keyed the microphone.

"Let's go home, Dr. Director," and she jumped into the cockpit, slammed the cover down, and fired up the engines.

I was going back, but I was also going forward.

Life's funny that way, isn't it?

- - - - - - -

The end of 'Blue Eyes, Shining.'

- - - - - - -

To my wonderful readers:

Thanks to all of you for riding alongside me on this adventure. I know that Jocelyn and Dr. Load want to thank you, as do as Betty and Slim, for listening to them and giving them all a chance to tell their stories. It's hard to believe that this all started with a 545-word one-time story, but look at where it's gone so far and where it's going: my thanks are to you, my readers and reviewers, for having faith in me and the ones I'm speaking for.

I can't and won't leave Jocelyn and Dr. Load without completing his requests to document the upcoming years and events between now and 'Black Hole Deep, Version 2.0' and beyond.

Remember to jump over to chapter 2 of Blue Eyes, Shining - Intermezzi to learn know the details of what happened after Wade left the room (after the end of Blue Eyes, Shining: chapter 6).

FYI, there will be some additional intermezzi to fill out some of the scenes in this chapter (what happened when Wade hacked into the Montana DoJ network, for example).

Stay tuned for the next phase of Blue Eyes, Shining: Training Table Blues.

Thanks, again, and please remember to review


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